Moonlight Reflections
by NightElfCrawler
Summary: Chapter 14 now up! Picking up the mental pieces.....
1. With a Stormy Night Brings Stormy News

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/   
whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: Ok, so I took 2 years of German, went to Switzerland about 6 years ago, and promptly forgot all of it...   
so I'm just not going to bother with inserting alot of German words, maybe one or two here, but i figure everyone gets  
the idea of the accent, so i'm not going to make things harder to READ by putting it in there. You get the point.  
  
Moonlight Reflections  
Chapter One  
With A Stormy Night Comes Stormy News  
By: NightElfCrawler  
  
It was a dark and stormy night, as it had a habit of being when depression had a firm grasp on one's soul. Thunder rumbled loudly across the cloud laden sky with an ominous roar, as lightning danced it's way from one gray cloud to another in a mysterious dance with itself.   
Kurt sat crouched on a tree branch, safe from the howling winds that threw the falling rain up into his face, soaking the branches of his sanctuary around him. Another flash of light illuminated his dark face, revealing a wistful lonely look plastered on a slightly damp furry face. The wind howled like a maddened fury, tossing his hair about his face in slightly damp strips. His tail swished idly back and forth beneath the branch, seeming to be restless in such a squalid environment.   
He wasn't sure why he was so restless, nor why he wished to be alone on such a tumultuous night. Sometimes he just sought the quiet refuge of solitude, to think, to reflect, to drop all pretenses. He had to admit, he was happier here in America, with the Institute, more so than he had been at home. Surely, he missed his parents, they had been the only family he had known all his life, even if they weren't his birth parents, they would never be replaced in his heart by anyone else. But even so, he was more accepted here, among those who understood his differences, his talents. But even they had limits, and even with the glory of technology, he still felt gloomy from time to time, over who he was, and what he looked like.   
He didn't hate himself, he had resented it, he had been depressed over it, and even wished he could be normal many times. He may say it from time to time, but the truth was he secretly found his differences reassuring. His furry skin kept him warmer than most humans in the cold, though it was a blasted pain in the ass during a heat wave. His tail helped him be more agile, and he could do so much more with it than anyone else could without one. Overall, he thought he was a handsome blue furry fuzz ball. He just found it rather regretful that most other 'normal' humans didn't seem that comforted by how he looked.   
However, he did long for the time when he might stroll down a sunny street out in the open, at ease just as he was, without people treating him like some freak. He'd never known that feeling until he had arrived here at the institute, but still being at ease at your home was one thing, strolling down main street was another. And even like Rogue, he couldn't get close to someone who didn't know about his true appearance, for fear they'd find out and be repulsed by what they discovered.   
There was one girl though.  
Amanda was different. She had discovered his differences, and instead of being disgusted by them, she'd become more curious about him. It bothered him a bit that she might only like him just because of how he looked, but then that said enough for her character if she still could see him as the same Kurt she had a crush on before she'd known.  
He felt a tingle of warmth flood through him as he thought about this, making the chill of the rain-enhanced night seem to wash away for a moment. He was excited about the friendship that they could share. He'd tried to attract the attention of some of the other students at the institute, after all, Kitty was a very attractive girl. Bam Bam was another, she'd flirted with him more than the others, finding him rather amusing or unique enough to satisfy her tastes. But unfortunately, she was rather detached from the group at the moment, and Kitty wasn't interested in his moves, despite his efforts.   
He played himself to be a jokester, always having fun. It helped ease the loneliness of being different, even from other mutants. It took his mind off of it, and he had more fun when he forgot about those differences. As time went on, he found himself being less and less focused on trying to 'fit in' with them. He knew he was one of the group, and that the others cared for him as much as he did them. That's what being friends meant after all.   
He sighed and blew some of his wet hair out of his eyes, blinking the yellow pupil-less orbs that seemed to glow with a light of their own. They said that there was no school tomorrow, since the rain had been going on for several days now, and the campus was pretty well flooded, making going to classes impossible, well at least for everyone else, he thought with a grin that flashed his sharp canine fangs. He could always teleport around teasing them all about not getting their feet wet!  
He sighed again. It was a good thing Storm was making the rain to help them avoid classes he dreaded to think what would happen once they went back. After the whole incident downtown where the whole world became aware of their existence, he knew that things would be different. Maybe most of the students wouldn't recognize him with his image inducer on, but they would still know he was one of the 'freaks' since he lived at the institute with the rest of them. Amanda wouldn't care, of course, but he was a bit apprehensive about the rest of the student body were they tolerant enough to handle mutants in their classes with them, or would the students have to start taking classes only at the institute now?  
His revelry was broken suddenly by a violent squelch from behind, squarely hitting his head and effectively knocking him off of the branch, flat onto the ground, conveniently in a well-placed mud puddle.  
He lifted his head, coughing mud out of his mouth and nose, and wiping it from his eyes, squinting up with a devilish gleam, wanting to get back whoever had just beaned him. Standing directly over him with a smirk on her face, Kitty seemed barely able to control her laughter, as she held an umbrella up to shield the rain from her face. "Man Kurt, you SO set yourself up for that one!" She grinned at him.  
He stood up slowly, nearly losing his balance and falling again in the slippery mud. "Gee, thanks for the mud bath, it's really SO great for my complexion you know." He shook himself off, throwing mud all over like a dog shaking water from it's fur.   
Kitty put her hand up to block it with a small squeal, but just let the mud pass through her as she used her phasing power. "Yeah well you know," she said as he stopped shaking himself, "You like, looked like you needed some cheering up, ya know?" She wrinkled her nose at him. "Eww, like totally gross! You smell like wet dog Kurt."  
He grinned and teleported suddenly behind her, leaning on her shoulder, dripping mud on her as he did so. "I thought cats hated water!"  
She just gave him a 'look' and a small shove. "Like, don't go dripping on my new shirt."   
He thought that her shirt was the smallest problem she had to be concerned about right now, but smartly didn't say anything about it. "So, what are you doing out here?"  
She eyed him. "I was about to ask you the same thing, like, you missed dinner, and that's SO unlike you, ya know?" She eyed him, thinking how pathetic he looked with his shirt and pants plastered to his body, and his fur sleeked down, he seemed to look skinnier than he was. "So what's up? You've been kind of out of it all day."  
He wrung his shirt out distractedly, as he glanced back out to the view of the city down below that he'd been staring at before she'd mud-balled him. "It's nothing". Just thinking a lot."  
She didn't look like she'd bought that excuse. "Uh huh, like you're totally not a good liar."  
He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, haven't had much practice." He was avoiding the issue really, he didn't want to share his thoughts with her right now.   
She eyed him, obviously concerned, but not wanting to pry too much into his personal life. "Look, you wanna come in, you're soaked through and like haven't eaten, how bout we go inside, have some food and dry off, and like maybe just talk." She shrugged, as if seeming to be casual and simply friendly. "Like, everyone else is busy and stuff, and I'm bored, so.." She glanced sideways at him as if asking his permission.  
He smiled slightly, hiding it in the shadows as he was so good at doing. Kitty cared more about him than she let on... "Sure, that sounds great." He said, his voice sounding a bit hoarse as he choked back a cough. He hoped he wasn't getting sick.  
She grinned and held the umbrella up. "Great, come on before we like, get hit by lightning or something."  
He grinned again. "Nah, why wait." He grabbed her arm and with a sudden poof, they were standing in the hallway outside their rooms.   
She blinked and shivered. "Man, I still get the creeps when you do that without warning."  
"Sorry." He said, not sounding sorry at all.   
Kitty sighed a bit, then glanced down. "Man, you're getting mud all over the marble." She waved a hand at him. "You'd better go wash up, how bout we meet downstairs in the front room , like, when you're finished?"  
He grinned at her, seeing that she was distracted a bit, seeming shy at mentioning that. She must have a crush on him after all! Score! "Sure." He said, trying to hide his enthusiasm, which was fine for him, except the wiggling tail seemed to give it away. "I'll only be a few minutes, since I'm already wet all I gotta do is wash off and dry." He waved a hand at her and walked into the bathroom, closing the door after him.   
Kitty watched him go and shook her head, trying hard not to laugh, then simply just phased down a floor.  
Kurt hummed lightly to himself, his mood definitely lighter now as he stripped his dirty clothes off and plopped them in the bathtub, before hopping in, pulling the shower on. The mud washed off of his fur fairly quickly, and he just scrubbed with a bit of shampoo to rid the smell of the muck, then hopped out, and dried himself with a fluffy towel. He mused what she wanted to 'talk' about, if that's really why she wanted to be alone with him. After all, they were both teenagers. And he'd never really been seriously with anyone.Amanda had been the first girl he'd ever dated before. Most girls didn't seem to want to get close to someone when they had a tail, and fuzzy blue fur coating their body. This was kind of a refresher, having girls chase after him instead.  
He wrapped a towel around himself, and wrung his wet clothes out, then just teleported to his room. He hadn't been given a roommate yet, though most students didn't have a room to themselves. He wished from time to time that he might be able to have one, but at the same time he liked his privacy. He found it more relaxing to hang from the chandelier on the ceiling, or dangle from the railing on his balcony, yet most people tended to become weirded out by seeing him dangling upside down in a precarious place. He couldn't really see why, they should try it actually, it was often most comfortable.  
He threw on a dry pair of pants and a new shirt, and glanced over feeling grateful that he'd not been wearing his image inducer, since if it'd gotten wet then the professor would have had to fix it again, for the umpteenth time. He'd thought that taking care of a watch wouldn't be that big of a deal, but Murphy's Law tended to become applicable more often than first thought.  
He ran a comb through his hair to smooth out the knots, then tossed it on the bed, and teleported downstairs to the front room. Kitty was already waiting there, with some hot soup and mugs of something steaming, either coffee or hot chocolate. He walked over and plopped in one of the big armchairs next to where she was sitting, and picked a bowl up. "Mmm this smells sehr gut!" He sipped it and fought the urge to cough it back, as the soup was steaming hot.  
Kitty smirked at his expression as his eyes watered. "Stupid, didn't the steam like totally give it away that you should blow on it first?" She demonstrated of course to further front his stupidity.   
He managed to swallow the hot soup and fanned his face with a hand to rid the burning in his mouth. "Gee, I missed that one this time."  
She giggled a bit, then seemed distracted again, and stared into the fireplace where the bright warm flames flickered brightly in the hearth.   
He knew that look, it had been the same he'd demonstrated. Before she mud-balled him. "So, what did you want to talk about?" He ventured, figuring that maybe it wasn't a romantic interest after all, to his disappointment. He tried not to let that get to him as he watched her face become a bit more gloomy. "What's wrong?"  
Kitty sighed, then put her bowl down on her lap again. "I got a letter today, it was kinda upsetting, ya know, but.. I didn't really know who I could talk to about it.. She looked up at him with pleading eyes that seemed to beg for his friendship and help. "Like, I figured you'd know more about the issue, I could talk to you about it."  
He sipped some more soup now that it had cooled down as she spoke, then set the bowl down and crossed his ankles tucking them under the chair casually, while leaning forward a bit. "Sure, I can try to help, but I'm not sure how much I can give you."  
Kitty sighed and pulled out a piece of folded paper from her jacket pocket and stared at it rather dully, not even bothering to unfold it. "I just found out that.."She took a deep breath and seemed to shudder a bit. "Well, it's a long story really.."  
"We've got time."  
She smiled gratefully at him and leaned back, seeming to gather her thoughts. She sat in silence for a while, and he finished up his soup as she sat thinking, waiting patiently for her to be ready to tell him what was on her mind. If anything, he was a patient listener, though he didn't know how good of advice he could offer, he was always willing to be there for others.  
"My mom was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago". She told me and I like, was so scared, but she said the doctors could like, remove it and stuff and she'd be fine."   
Kurt bit his lip, feeling sadness for her, but smartly remained quiet as she continued.   
"So, I got this letter yesterday from her, and it turns out the doctors can't do anything about it..and like, when my sister found out she freaked, and ran off."  
Kurt blinked. "You're sister? I didn't know you had a sister.."  
She shrugged slightly. "She's not really like, my sister, I mean she's adopted. My parents thought they couldn't have children, and they adopted her, then my mom got pregnant with me. She like, had issues and stuff, and went off to live with some friends of hers, but she still cared about us. I mean she'd visit me a lot and we'd go and do stuff, she's like only a few years older than me, and we were pretty close, I guess my mom getting sick reminded her of her own mom, we never really talked about her family, she didn't really want to, ya know." Her eyes lowered again to the soup bowl in her lap, where the contents were cold by now. "But though she didn't really get along well living with us, she still cared a lot about us, and so hearing about our mom, she like lost it, and well, that's not all."  
Kurt raised an eyebrow, still waiting to see what this had to do with him, so far it wasn't anything that she couldn't share with anyone else...  
But Kitty broke the news. "When she lost it, she changed into something else, Kurt." Her eyes lifted up. "She panicked and ran off when that happened, but my mom saw it, she knew that she was like me.. like us...but she doesn't know where she went." She fidgeted. "She wants me to come and help look for her, calm her down and like, talk to her and stuff. I guess my parents tried to tell her earlier where I'd gone, that I was you know, a mutant and stuff, but she just laughed and didn't believe them. Now she's one of us, and knowing her, she's probably hiding somewhere I know of, we used to go there together to just like hang out away from our parents you know."  
Kurt scratched his head. "Well, you should go and help her out then, but I'm confused, why didn't you go to the professor about this? I mean, why me?"  
Kitty squirmed a bit. "I dunno, I mean I know the professor would wanna help, but somehow this just feels like more of a family thing." She glanced up. "I wanna keep it a family thing for now, and I wanted you to go with me there, since you know more or less what it's like to look different, and according to my mom, she's not looking, well, herself anymore, you know what I mean?" She blushed faintly. "Plus you're my friend, and well, my parents kinda want to meet you."  
He blinked. "Meet me?" He felt his cheeks redden, though who could tell with the blue fur. "But how do they..." He trailed off seeing her face redden more. "Ohhh I get it!" He grinned. "You've been telling them ALL about the fuzzy dude!"  
"Knock it off Kurt!" she said flushing. "You're a great friend! Of course I tell them about you. I tell them about all my friends here n stuff." She looked up, smile fading a bit. "Will you go with me? And help me out?"  
He smiled and leaned forward putting a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, I wouldn't be a friend if I didn't. But I can't teleport us all the way to Illinois you know, that's just a wee bit out of my range. We're going to need another ride there."  
She nodded. "I know, I'll ask the Proff if we can go and like borrow the X-jet or something. I guess I should tell him, he probably knows though anyway with Cerebro by now."  
Kurt nodded a bit. "Probably, but he likely guessed you'd wanna contact him about it first, huh."  
She nodded and stood up. "Ok, I'll go ask him now."  
Kurt stood up as well, a bit surprised. "Now? But it's like, late at night. You're not going to leave now are you? It's pretty bad weather outside still."  
She glanced at him, grinning. "You're not scared are you? Big blue fuzz ball like yourself?" She brushed a finger under his chin teasingly.  
He gulped a bit. "No, of course not, it's just that...uh.. well.." He broke off not sure of what he was trying to say. "Um, never mind."  
She grinned a bit. "Come on, let's go ask him."  
An hour later, they were flying over the land, the institute behind them on their way to Kitty's home. The professor had agreed, and as they'd though he'd known about the new emergence of a possible mutant, but had waited, knowing Kitty was thinking over how to approach the issue of her sister. He'd let them take the jet on one condition, that Logan go with them. And he was there, silently flying the jet with that familiar grim 'lets get this over' attitude on his face. Not the best way to have a chaperone, but they weren't picky at the moment.  
Kurt adjusted his holowatch so that he appeared normal, as Kitty stared out the window at the rapidly approaching lights of Chicago beneath them. Kurt glanced over at her. "Uh, trivial question, but do your parents know what I really look like?"  
She glanced back his way. "Um, I kinda described you in my letters, but they probably have no idea what to expect. I mean you're so unique and all, you know?" She grinned at him.  
He smiled back. "Just to be safe, I think I'll go in like this to start with."  
She nodded. "Yeah, no sense freaking out the hospital staff and all, no offense Kurt."  
"None taken." He replied back, but felt a twinge of regret that he couldn't just stroll into the hospital like he really was. Again, there was that bitter feeling of wanting the world to just get with the program and accept them all as they were, not as freaks. But he knew that wasn't about to happen for a while.  
"All right squirts, strap in, we're landing." Logan's gruff voice cut into their individual thoughts as they touched down on the hospital roof. It was the easiest landing point, and Kurt could teleport them down to the ground from there.   
They packed up some bags with overnight stuff, and walked down the ramp way onto the roof. Logan stood at the top watching them with a look of 'you'd better not screw up' on his face. "If you need me, call. I'll be scoutin the bars in the area. I'll check up on ya in a while."   
They waved to him, and Kurt took Kitty's arm and they vanished with a puff of smoke and an implosion of air, and re-appeared on the ground level, in an alley out of direct sight. With a quick glance to make sure they appeared to be normal, and no one had seen them magically appear out of thin air, they stepped out onto the main street and walked into the main lounge of the hospital.   
  
  
End Note: Well, I've not written fanfiction in a LONG LONG time, so I'm a bit rusty. But comments are welcome, as I mentioned, I'm not sure where this is going, so if you have any good ideas, let me know. 


	2. Memoirs of Family

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/   
whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: Ok, so I took 2 years of German, went to Switzerland about 6 years ago, and promptly forgot all of it...   
so I'm just not going to bother with inserting alot of German words, maybe one or two here, but i figure everyone gets  
the idea of the accent, so i'm not going to make things harder to READ by putting it in there. You get the point.  
  
Moonlight Reflections  
Chapter Two  
Memoirs of Family  
By: NightElfCrawler  
  
Kurt glanced furtively aside at Kitty's face as she walked up to the desk, and felt worry and sorrow for her position, her mother was dying and she was putting on such a brave front to hide her inner pain...he knew the feeling well, but hated to see others suffering it.  
  
They walked up to the elevator after being told which room to go towards, and rode it in silence. Kurt kept quiet, knowing that this was Kitty's private moment, and he really shouldn't be here to interrupt, but she needed at friend at the same time, so he just planned to stay in the background and be there when she needed him.  
  
Kitty took a breath and stepped off the elevator as they reached the correct floor, and hesitated as they arrived before the door where her mother was. Her hand shook a bit as she placed it on the handle, then with a firm jut of her chin and a resolute look, she opened the door stepping in, and Kurt followed her.  
  
Laying on the bed was a middle aged woman who still retained some youthful beauty, and beside her a man who looked strong, but had worry lines and grief etched on his face.  
  
"Hi Mommy, Daddy." Kitty said quietly.  
  
They both looked up, and smiles lit their faces. "Kitty!" Her mother exclaimed with a surprised yet warm look. "I didn't know if you'd be able to get away from school to come!"  
  
"Come on mom, who needs school when there's more important things." She ran in and embraced them both with tears of happiness in seeing her family again.  
  
Kurt just quietly walked in behind her, picking up her bag she'd dropped for her, and staying to the side, smiling gently at the warmth of a family reunion.   
  
They laughed and chatted for several minutes, catching up since they had last spoken and written to each other, before Kitty remembered him and turned around. "Oh, Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Kurt. He's one of the friends at the Institute I told you about." She grinned at him and beckoned him closer.  
  
He stepped forward and smiled at them both. "Ah, hello." He shuffled on his feet awkwardly, not sure if he should extend a hand for a shake.  
  
But Kitty's father put a quick end to that dilemma, by gripping his hand quickly and pumping it up and down energetically. "Welcome! Welcome Kurt, it's great to meet you, Kitty's told us so much about you!" Then the fact that what he was holding wasn't quite the same texture as what he though he was holding seemed to hit his brain, and he blinked, glanced down, then back up in confusion.  
  
"Ah, Dad Kurt's the one who wears that holo watch, remember?" Kitty prompted, seeing his confusion. "Like, I don't think the hospital staff would understand otherwise, ya know?" She grinned at Kurt, almost apologetically.  
  
"Ahh!" Her father said, resuming a slow pump of his hand, as that clicked in his mind. "Of course, I understand." He smiled and nodded at Kurt, but still seemed both curious and a bit disturbed by the fuzzy hand. "Well, we'll have to all have a nice private chat later, the hospital is releasing your mother to go home tonight, so we can head back and have dinner at home."  
  
Kitty's eyes seemed to light up, then grow dim. "They're letting you go mom?" She sounded thrilled, but concerned as well beneath that. "Why?"  
  
Her mother smiled sadly at her. "There's nothing they can do dear...the cancer is beyond chance of removal, so the only thing I want is to be home with my family while I can."  
  
Kitty bit her lip slightly at that, not sure she liked that outcome at all. "Well.. at least we can go home." She finally ventured after some silence.  
  
Her mother smiled sadly and nodded at her, seeming saddened to see her child upset by this. "Dad can cook us some steak or something to celebrate, ok hon?"  
  
Kitty nodded sadly, and returned the smile. They spent some time talking while her mother was prepared to leave, put in a wheelchair and checked out, then they all headed down and out to the car, and drove back down the highway. Kurt kept to himself, letting Kitty chatter it up with her parents. It was clear she had missed them a lot.   
  
After some time, they reached a moderate sized house on a quiet street, and they stepped out of the car, and all entered the home. Kurt glanced around, feeling slightly nostalgic of his own home, seeing pictures of loving parents and children on the walls. He suddenly wanted to go home and visit his own parents, being away from them for so long was difficult, especially since he'd been home and never far off most of his life.  
  
Kitty chatted with her parents as they unpacked, and Kurt was left to sit on a couch as they bustled about, as he didn't want to be in the way. Instead, he found a companion in a rather curious cat who came sniffing at him, then gave him the oddest look as if to say 'you're more than you look pal' before jumping up beside him on the couch. He tentatively held a hand out for the cat to sniff, and it did, then licked his hand, and made another face, shaking it's head and licking it's nose a few times, taken by surprise at the fur that wasn't visible to the eye. After a few more sniffs, rubs and paws, the cat finally settled down next to him, purring and submitting to his petting of it's fur. He smiled faintly at the simple pleasure.   
  
Kitty suddenly rushed in, seeming flustered. "Oh my god Kurt, I'm so sorry!" She seemed flushed a bit. "I totally forgot about you! Come on and let's all like, have something to drink and we can talk n stuff." She looked embarrassed.  
  
He smiled slightly. "The cat and I were bonding though." He gave a heavy melodramatic sigh, and stood up. "But if you wish to interrupt our happy company..."  
  
She gave him another 'look'. "Come on you blue hairball." She turned and lead the way into the kitchen where the others were seated at the kitchen table already. He followed her, the cat trailing happily after him, having found a new friend. Kitty pulled out a chair for him, and he plopped down in it, the cat leaping up onto his lap and curling up.  
  
Kitty sat down and smiled over at Kurt. "So..." She trailed off, as if unsure what to say.   
  
"So, Kurt, Kitty tells us you're from Germany." Her father said, solving the problem of awkwardness. He poured Kurt some lemonade that they'd begun serving and handed it to him. "What part?"  
  
Kurt accepted the glass with a nod and sipped it, feeling the sweet tangy juice wet his throat. "Ah, I grew up in the Southern area of Germany." He said looking up, glancing from mother to father.   
"Ah, beautiful countryside I've heard," said Kitty's Father, "though I've never visited Europe before."  
  
"Ah, yes it is beautiful." Kurt said with a smile. "It's like no other place I've been to, though I haven't traveled much..."  
  
"Lots of wilderness there? Do much hiking and exploring?"  
  
"Actually, yes. We lived back in the hills, so there was a lot of tree lands to travel in that was uninhabited mostly, it was nice to go camping there."  
  
Kitty's father nodded. "An outdoors guy, huh." He winked at Kitty. "You'd not get her out there much, she hates bugs, dirt, and anything away from a shopping mall."  
  
Kitty scowled. "Daad..."  
  
Kurt laughed, and got a glare at her in return, and held up his hands to show defeat before she threw her glass of lemonade at him. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind a trip, if it's with me..." He winked at her fuming look. "I mean she's such a good student, she could get time off..."  
  
"Yeah, unlike SOMEONE who had chores to do cause he spent too much time goofing off." She retaliated at him.  
  
"Hey, what can I say, it's fun to break the rules once and a while." He grinned.  
  
"Even if you gotta do extra sessions and stuff? You're crazier than I thought, Kurt." Kitty said wryly.  
  
Kurt just winked at her. "Come on Kitty, everyone has a hobby."  
  
She just snorted and gulped more drink down.  
  
"So, Kurt, since you go to the institute, you must have a... gift...too?" Kitty's mother spoke up quietly, smiling softly at their discussion.  
  
Kurt chewed on an ice cube, and glanced at Kitty sideways, as if asking should he reveal his true identity to her parents.   
  
She looked down, then back up. "I told you about Kurt in my letters, didn't I Mom?"  
  
Her mother nodded. "Yes, but you talk about so many of your friends, I lose track who's who."  
  
Kurt just smirked a bit at Kitty, and stood up. "I can show you." He vanished with a puff of sulfurous smoke, and reappeared on the other side of Kitty, leaning on her shoulder casually, much to her chagrin.  
  
Her parents seemed startled, then both let their breaths out in a bit of awe. "Marvelous." Her father said looking impressed. "That must be quite a handy talent to have."  
  
Kurt teleported back to his seat and took another sip of the lemonade. "It has it's perks." He grinned cockily at Kitty, and she snuffed at him.  
  
Kitty snorted and decided to get back at him, and leaned over and punched his watch. "Showoff. So there." She smirked back at him as the holo watch shimmered off, revealing his true appearance to her parents. They blinked, and seemed stunned at first, staring not knowing what to say. Kurt cleared his throat, and threw Kitty a look of his own, wishing she'd given them a bit of warning first, seeing him tended to take people by surprise. They seemed to slowly be drawn from their initial shock, and were torn between curiosity, and the wish to be polite and not stare.  
  
Kurt just shrugged it off. "Well I always like to be the center of attention." He smiled internally seeing Kitty's look of chagrin for giving him the spotlight unwittingly again.   
  
Her father blinked and shook his head. "Amazing, forgive me for being straightforward, but how did you end up this way?"  
  
Kurt blinked his yellow eyes over at him, amused at their forthcoming. "I was born this way actually, it's not a usual thing among...our kind." He said hesitating, not really liking the term 'mutants' too much. "But my power developed when I was older, like everyone else's."  
  
Her father blinked, distracted by his tail swishing down at his legs idly. The cat took a fascination to it, unknowingly by Kurt, and watched it swish with hungry eyes, then suddenly pounced on it, sinking it's needle sharp teeth into the plaything. Kurt yelped and leapt out of his seat, the cat startled, still hanging onto his tail as he stood up on the chair, staring down at it. Kitty took one look, and couldn't help herself, and burst out into laughter, and was shortly joined by her mother, and her father. Kurt stood there with slight tears of pain in his eyes, and tried to pry the kitty from his tail, but the more he wiggled, the more she seemed to want to chew... Finally, feeling a bit sorry for Kurt, Kitty leaned forward and took hold of his tail, and phased it out of the cat's teeth, and Kurt quickly held it far out of reach of the cat, rubbing the sore spot. The cat looked confused and disappointed in finding it's toy had suddenly vanished, and gave a snuff, then leapt off the chair in search of more amusing things.  
  
Kitty giggled more, seeing Kurt's wounded look, more of pride rather than of actual physical pain. "Maybe I should get you a kitten for the Holidays, Kurt."  
  
He looked about ready to have a heart attack, and leaned on the chair for support. "No WAY! I'll have bandages all over and look like a mummy or something! My poor tail couldn't handle it!" He rubbed the sore spot, and sat down finally.  
  
Kitty's parents were watching them, a bit awkward at the fiasco, and not wanting to be rude and butt into their conversation. As Kurt sat down, a bit sulkily, Kitty's father cleared his throat. "Well then, why don't I start the barbeque."  
  
  
  
End note: Well I got one comment very quickly (thanks!) so I formatted this one and stuck it up there, so feedback please, I have one more chapter written so far, then I'm going to need to think through the next few... ideas are welcome. Oh and join my rpg! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nightcrawler_rpg/ 


	3. The Day After

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/   
whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's Note: Well people are sure giving feedback. Glad y'all like it, here's the next installment, keep the comments flowing I feeeed on your attention, mwahaha. BTW, this is kind of all going to fall together later, though it seems random now. ^_^  
  
  
Moonlight Reflections  
Chapter Three  
The Day After...  
By: NightElfCrawler  
  
  
  
Kurt lay on his bed later that night, staring up at the ceiling with a distracted look, his eyes not really focused. Kitty had decided to stay a few days at her folks, and said she'd call him when they were ready to look for her sister. Until then, he'd gone home with Logan, since school would resume again tomorrow. He wasn't really looking forward to the prospect of everyone knowing about mutants...granted most wouldn't recognize him anyway with his holo watch on, since it'd been off when the cameras had been around, but the others didn't have that luxury, and he didn't really like the idea of being the odd one out... It wasn't that he WANTED to be treated as a freak, just he didn't know if he really wanted his friends going through that without him.  
  
He sighed, and rolled out of bed, his two toed feet padding soflty as he walked to the window, and stepped out onto the balcony where the wind blew calmly, a crisp cold breeze after the storm. He perched on the railing, his toes curling firmly around the top of the rail, holding him solidly there, as his tail hung, swishing idly behind him, restless like a cat.   
  
He had to make a decision. He had already made it, he thought, but he just had to convince himself to go through with it. If the world already knew about mutants, and if the others were going to have to face it, then he would as well. He'd go incogneto to figure it out first, but if it ended up that he must share the burden with his friends, he would do that, despite the obviousness of his difference with other people. He sighed, and leaned his chin on his knees, and closed his eyes, feeling drowsy, but not wanting to lay in bed. Before he was aware of it, the sun had risen and he was blinking tiredly as a knock stirred him out of his revelry.  
  
"Hey lazy! Come on, we're waiting on you for breakfast already!" Came Evan's voice through the door. "You comin or what?"  
  
Kurt rubbed his eyes with the back of a fuzzy wrist, and hopped down, glancing in the mirror at his reflection. He looked pretty awful, his eyes were shot with red, and a bit puffy beneath, and he looked haggard. He sighed and quickly changed into his school clothes, and grabbed his things, then did a quick teleport to the bathroom to wash his face and try to look more presentable, then put his inducer on, and bamfed downstairs to eat.  
  
Everyone was sitting there, chatting as normal, but there was obvious tension in the room. No one really wanted to go back to school today, not after what happened, but the Proffessor had insisted that they try.  
  
Kurt ate quietly, not his usual joking self, staring distractedly out the window as he stuffed sasages into his mouth. It was a few minutes before he realized the table had gone quiet, and he was knawing on an empty fork. He glanced over, blinking, seeing everyones eyes focused on him. "What..?" He managed.  
  
"Yo, Kurt, you feeling ok? You're not yourself at all, dude." Evan said, leaning over across the table and putting a hand on his forehead as if feeling for a fever. "You don't feel sick, but with that fur it's hard to tell."  
  
Kurt swallowed the half chewed sausage, and forced a grin. "Hey, I'm just a bit distracted, nothing's wrong."  
  
Jean nodded faintly, and stood up. "I think we're all distracted. How about we just get this over with, the sooner the better."  
  
Everyone nodded solemnly around the table. "Hey, how bad can it be?" Evan said stuffing a bagel in his satchel for a snack. "I mean, it's not like the students didn't suspect something, I mean we all have slipped up once or twice."  
  
Jean sighed, and walked out, Scott following her looking solomn. Rogue rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but now the whole world knows, and if the school didn't, they sure as heck do now." She glanced at Kurt. "You're the lucky one ya know. The rest of us can't hide." She snorted and walked out, seeming bitter for some reason.  
  
Evan blinked and glanced at Kurt, who looked back at him, tail twitching in internal struggle. "I..." he tried to say, but fell short, confusion inside of him boiling.  
  
"Hey, don't sweat it man." Evan punched him lightly on the shoulder as he headed out. "She's just worked up, don't take it personal, everyone's kinda jittery. See ya at school man." And with that Evan ran out the door, skateboard on his shoulder.  
  
Kurt sighed, and stuffed one more muffin in his mouth, then headed out towards the front. He wanted to be optimistic, but it was hard under the circumstances.   
  
Scott was starting up the engine to his car and waved seeing Kurt step out into the sun. "Hop in."  
  
Kurt eyed the car, and smiled faintly, giving him a small wave. "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna walk."  
  
Scott looked at him, sensing some internal struggle, and nodded. "Well don't be late again..." And he sped off with the others in the back seat.  
  
Kurt stretched his arms, then 'ported across the canyon, and kept at it, 'porting from tree to tree, finally ending up a block from school. He jumped down, and straightened his shirt, and took a deep breath, then walked down the street, joining the other streams of kids on their way. The ports had drained him a bit, but it'd also awakened his mind... kind of like running early in the cold morning does to you.  
  
As he walked he could hear snippits of their convorsation, drifting in from all sides.   
  
"Did you see it?"  
  
"Yeah, weird huh?"  
  
"Scary's more like it, some of them were monsters."  
  
"But that one guy in my class..."  
  
"Yeah I know.. creepy..."  
  
Kurt walked along, glancing from side to side as he heard the other students talking. Today was going to be a long day, very long.  
  
The school was busy as usual as they approached it, and as Kurt stepped onto the grounds, he could see some of the others from the institute milling around, and being left alone by the majority of the student body, with eyes on them from all direction. So far it didn't look as if any trouble was brewing, but one never knew.  
  
He walked quietly into the hall, and was greeted by some friends who knew him. He waved cheerily back, taking some solice and at the same time misery in the fact that they didn't know he was one of the so called 'freaks' too. As he spun his locker open, packing some books into his book bag, he heard a commotion.   
  
"Hey, why don't you just buzz off pal!" Came a throaty southern drawl from his left, and he glanced over seeing Rogue backed up against her locker with about ten big burly guys surrounding her. Most of the other students in the hall had stopped to watch, some whispering, some pointing at Rogue.  
  
He bit his lip and put his bag down, and walked over there.  
  
"Go home mutie." Snarled one of the boys. "Your kind ain't wanted here." He jabbed a finger at Rogue, and she glowered at him.  
  
"You're just thinking you're better than me cause you're all so tough." She spat back, but nervousness was flickering in her eyes at the danger she was in.   
  
Kurt quickly pushed through the boys and stood in front of her defensively, eyes narrowed. "Hey, leave her alone."  
  
Rogue's eyes widened and she put a gloved hand on the back of his shoulder in warning. "Kurt...:  
  
He flashed her a smile. "Hey, I can't let them pick on girls." He glanced back to the guys, who were looking at him with a smirk. "Why don't you find someone closer to your own size to pick on."  
  
One of the boys chuckled, and slammed a fist into his hand. "Oh, maybe like you runt?" He shoved Kurt roughly with a hand, pushing him back into Rogue. "Standing up for this here mutie, mutie lover." He smirked wider. "We otta teach him a lesson, right boys?"  
  
Rogue's grip tightened on him in fear. "Come on." She whispered. "Let's just get outta here, Kurt."  
  
Kurt had other plans though. His jaw hardened, and his eyes narrowed. "No Rogue..." He said, his voice solomn and even, making some of the guys eye him warily. "This isn't time to back away". They can't push us around like this. We have to stand up to them."  
  
"WE?" The big burly boy said, raising eyebrows. "So you're one of them muties too, are ya?"  
  
Kurt just eyed him, still standing in front of Rogue defensively. "And if I am?"  
  
The hall was jammed with students by now, all of them whispering and watching with wide eyes, none of tehm attempting to stop the fight.   
  
"Well then, we'll just have to beat some sense into ya too!" The boy smirked and made a fist, and aimed it straight for Kurt's head.  
  
Rogue scowled and jerked back as Kurt's head jerked to the side to avoid the punch. "Ok, now this is getting to really piss me off." She pulled her glove off and held it palm out towards the big guy. "Ok pal, you wanna fight, then come at me." Her eyes locked on his in warning. "Just see what this 'mutie' can do."  
  
Kurt grabbed her arm though, and pulled it down. "No." He said quietly. "Don't fight them, that'll only make them stronger."  
  
Rogue looked athim exasperated. "What? First ya say to stand up now you're saying back off? Make up your mind already!"  
  
Kurt was about to answer, when suddenly he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes, and jerked aside just enough to avoid having a big fist punch his head into the locker. Instead, the guy's fist hit the locker, making a dent, and the students all laughed loudly. Kurt was seething inside. He was torn between keeping his stand, and just getting out of there and avoiding it. He figured the safest, and quickest thing, was to sort out his priorities later, and with that thought, seeing as they all knew he was a mutant too, he grabbed Rogue's arm, and they both vanished with a puff of smoke and implosion of air. The thugs were left staring at the empty spot in confusion.  
  
They re-appearned in another hall, one that was mostly empty, since classes were about to start. Rogue shoved his arm away. "Look, fuzzball." She pulled her glove back on. "I don't need defending. I can take care of myself." And with a swipe of her hair, she stalked off down the hall towards class.  
  
Kurt was left standing there, confusion on his face, and boiling inside. The bell rang though, startling him out of his thoughts, and he sighed, and quickly walked to class, and sat down in his seat, having forgotten his books in the process.  
  
The day seemed to stretch out forever...each class he got sideways looks from the more skeptical students who knew he lived at the institute where all the freaks were, and glares of hatred, curiosity, and fear from the students who'd actually seen him in the hall using his power and knew he was one of the 'freaks'.   
  
At lunch, he was sitting down at a table alone, since he couldn't find any of the others, they'd all seemed to have vacated campus for lunch. His normal friends had somehow found 'other things' to do, after the fiasco in the hallway... so he was left sitting on the bench alone.. something he'd never done since coming to Bayville. He caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Amanda... he'd not seen her at all today, and wondered where she'd gone. After that night of the dance, she'd been hard to get a hold of... they'd had a great night, and he'd thought that he'd finally found someone normal who could understand and treat him as a real person, not as a blue freak of nature... But she'd been avoiding him... When he'd asked her, she'd just replied that it wasn't him, that she had some other problems to sort out... yeah right... sure.  
  
He wolfed down his food, as normal packing away enough to feed five normal folks, and then cleaned up to go, promptly freezing in place and gulping. Blocking his way were five of the big hulks he'd run into with Rogue that morning. "Uh oh.. big trouble." He murmered under his breath as one reached for his shirt, and lifted him up into the air so his feet dangled.  
  
"I think it's time we settled our little dispute, mutie." Spat the boy holding him up.  
  
Kurt gulped a bit. "Ah, I'd like to but I really have to be going now you see." He was preparing to teleport out, but the guys seem to know what he had planned.  
  
He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, and everything began to swim suddenly as one of the guys had thunked him fairly hard. He dangled there woozy, not hearing the inflamitory words that came from the thugs, just wondering how he got himself into these messes. He felt someone punch him in the gut, and groaned faintly, opening his eyes and seeing the thugs grinning at him. The one holding him dropped him, and he fell awkwardly to the ground, managing to keep his balance. He took a step back, but one of them grabbed his hand, unfortunately as always, the one with the holo watch on it.  
  
He heard the sickening crunch of the watch, and internally groaned. Maybe he could use this to get away now. He readied himself to teleport, even though his head wasn't quite clear yet.  
  
"What the HELL is that!?" Came a familiar answer to his real appearance suddenly broadcasted to the whole student body. But instead of backing off, they pushed forward, grabbing onto him from all sides. "Don't' let it get away!"  
  
Kurt yelped as his arms were twisted behind his back, and suddenly something cold and sharp was placed to his throat, and he opened his gleaming yellow eyes to stare at a knife pushed against his throat. "Uh... I suppose now's a bad time to mention lunch is nearly over...?"  
  
"Don't even think about doing that disappearing act pal, you'll have to take us all with ya or I'll cut ya before you can vanish." The grunt growled, eyes narrow and staring straight into his.  
  
From the side of his peripheral vision, he could see the whole school it seemed, surrounding them, the shocked, frightened, and alarmed looks on all of their faces. He was in a very bad situation, he thought, yeah, pretty bad. Typical.  
  
"Stop it!" Came an angry voice he recognized, and felt relief flood thorugh him. It was Jean followed closely by Scott. "Let him go, and no one gets hurt." She said matter of factly, looking deadly serious.  
  
The brute just laughed, glancing back at her. "What's this, another mutie? Whatcha gonna do before I slice blue-boy's throat here?"  
  
Kurt swallowed hard, watching her with nervous eyes. He could try to teleport, and might make it out before the guys realized it, after all he didn't have to take them with him if he concentrated hard enough, but that'd leave them to deal with the thugs alone. He glanced around quickly looking for an escape route.  
  
Jean in the meantime had lifted a hand, looking very pissed off. "For the last time, let Kurt go."  
  
Scott had come up beside her, and was gripping his glasses with one hand, looking pretty threatening.  
  
The thug just laughed, but he seemed a bit nervous at two pissed off looking students, who seemed to mean business. "What the hell do you care about him anyway, he's just a no good, ugly..."  
  
He was interrupted by a sharp kick to the groin, not from Jean or Scott, but from Amanda, who was standing there quite suddenly, fists and teeth clenched, looking very very pissed off. "DO NOT HARM MY BOYFRIEND!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and tackled the guy full on, grabbing his arm to try and pull it away from Kurt.  
  
There was no way she was strong enough, but her attack gave him the distraction he needed to teleport out of the thugs grips, and onto the guy with the knife's back, where he quickly grabbed his hand, and tried to wrest the knife away. He wasn't strong enough either, but given the two people on top of him, and a quick blast of red light from Scott, the knife ended up being melted into a useless pile of metal anyway. Kurt grabbed Amanda's hand as the thug doubled over still in pain from the groin shot, and pulled her back to Jean and Scott, facing the other four guys in a crouch. He winced a bit as he moved, feeling pain in his side, but he ignored it for the moment, as it wasn't as critical.   
  
However he need not have worried, the other four thugs were freaked out by the mutants ganging up on them, and they backed off, muttering 'freaks' and 'monsters' before finally turning and just leaving.  
  
There was a small sigh that collectively expelled from everyone present, and Jean glanced over at Kurt as he watched them leave. "You ok?"  
  
Kurt grined lopsidedly and gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, no problem. Just..." He managed to hold in a yelp, but did jump, as Amanda roughly pulled his shirt up. "What are you DOING?!"  
  
She poked his side, and saw him flinch, and glared up at him. "Idiot! You shouldn't have let them hurt you like that!"  
  
Kurt flushed a bit, and glanced at Jean and Scott who looked a bit bewildered by Amanda's demeanor, as Kurt had sorta kept quiet about how much she knew about him. "I...um.. sorry. I'll be more careful next time...?"  
  
Jean shook her head faintly, and knelt down. "Let me see." She gently touched his side, where a dark splotch was forming even against the blue fur. "Uh oh, we'd better get you back home Kurt, they may have broken a rib here."  
  
Kurt groaned, and put a hand to his head. "Wunderbar..."  
  
Amanda glared up at him, and gave him a pouting face, to which he just completely melted upon seeing. "You need to be more careful! What if they'd really hurt you!?" She sniffled, then threw herself on him, throwing her arms around his neck and bursting into tears against his chest.  
  
That threw both Scott and Jean, and everyone else who was still gathered around watching the scene. Kurt blinked awkwardly, and slowly put his arms around Amanda. "Hey, take it easy, I'm not really hurt that bad... it looks worse than it is..."  
  
Jean glanced around and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Maybe you'd better go back now." She glanced at the crowd, seeing they were restless, whispering and staring. "We don't want to start another incident, and you should get that looked at...can you get home yourself Kurt?"  
  
Kurt nodded. "Yah, I'll manage."  
  
Amanda pouted. "You're taking me with you."  
  
Scott raised a hand. "Uh..."  
  
She glared at him. "NO. I'm going with him.. to make sure he doesn't get in any more trouble this time." She glared at Kurt too. "Take us both there."  
  
Kurt sighed, and figured he had little choice, so held her more tightly to him, then teleported out of the school grounds.  
  
They reappeared in front of the institute grounds, and Kurt groaned as a wave of dizziness came over him from excessive teleporting and his injury, and he nearly fell over, but Amanda supported him with an arm quickly. "Whoa, take it easy there fuzzy." She said concerned. "Where's this hospital place of yours?"  
  
Kurt was about to answer when he didn't have to, as Logan stepped out from the front door, peering down at them. "Oh great, what'd you do this time elf?" He growled, and walked down the steps, looking grumpy as usual.   
  
Kurt grinned slightly, feeling dizzy still. "Ah, nothing much really, just a little scratch."  
  
Logan grunted and guestured for Amanda to bring him up the steps. "Allright, come on you can tell me while yer getting fixed."  
  
Amanda glanced around, awed by the huge plush mansion as they walked in, and were led to an elevator by Logan. She hadn't thought that the institute was this lavish. She glanced at Kurt sideways and saw he looked to be in pretty bad shape, trying to stay conscious as they stood riding down the elevator. She felt a wave of guilt flood her as she noticed him trying hard to not glance at her curiously. She'd been avoiding him, but as she'd told him it wasn't due to him... it was... other reasons. But still she felt bad for abandoning him like this. She glanced up at the rough looking guy, who gave her a small glance and a 'humph' before stopping the elevator at a level, and walking out. She followed, leading Kurt with her, glancing around in surprise. These lower levels were totally different in structure from the above levels. They were as if some kind of hidden secret base.  
  
Her thoughts were cut short when they arrived in a small room with a bed and medical supplies, and she led Kurt to the bed, sitting him down on it upright. She glanced at the man who was just standing with his arms crossed. "Aren't you going to help him?"  
  
Logan grunted. "I ain't a nurse kid. Backups coming."  
  
Just as he spoke, the doors opened again and two people walked, or rather one walked the other wheeled, into the room. A tall woman with white hair, and a bald man in a wheelchair came into the room.  
  
"Well...I knew something like this might happen." The tall woman said, walking over and putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder.  
  
Kurt looked up, still seeming out of it and smiled weakly. "You know me, always causing trouble."  
  
The woman shook her head, and grabbed the lower part of his shirt. "Ok, arms up, strip."  
  
Amanda stood slightly back out of the way, watching with a hesitant look. She glanced over at the bald man, and he turned her way and smiled. "You must be Amanda. Kurt has told us something about you, although I'm sure this must come as quite a shock to you."  
  
She blinked. "What part? This whole place being like some kinda base or something?"  
  
The man blinked, and she felt a tickle in her mind, and then he seemed to relax. "Ah, I see. You already knew about Kurt's appearance."  
  
She flushed and played with a strand of hair. "Um.. yeah, he didn't tell you?" She blinked remember that Kurt had tended to avoid the issue when mentioning if anyone else knew about him. "I guess he kinda was cautious huh."  
  
The man nodded and extended a hand. "Kurt is a good boy, and I'm glad he has a friend who can understand him as he truly is. I am Proffessor Charles Xaiver."  
  
She took his hand and shook it. "Oh, so you're the one who runs this place, neat." She glanced at Kurt. "It wasn' this fault, those guys just picked on him after he stood up for that friend of his. But now like the whole school knows what he looks like..."  
  
Charles sighed softly. "It was bound to happen, the rest of the student body knows about the rest of us now anyway.. but Kurt's position is a bit more...unusual."  
  
Amanda bit her lip. "Yeah, they're gonna eat him alive when he goes back. Like most people don't wanna understand."  
  
Logan grunted. "Time for home study if things gets much worse Chuck."  
  
Xavier sighed again, and wheeled over to where the white haired woman was examining Kurt's fuzzy blue side. "How badly injured is he Ororo?"  
  
Ororo shook her head. "I can't tell from here, but the bleeding is minor, he just got scratched a bit. But he might have a cracked rib, we'll need to x-ray him."  
  
Kurt looked halfway amused. "X-ray.. cool. I've never seen what I look like that way." Amanda giggled a bit, and he threw a grin at her, flashing his fangs.   
  
Ororo just smiled and patted his shoulder. "All right then, up with you over to the wall."  
  
Kurt slid off the bed slowly, still feeling dizzy, but not as bad now that he'd sat for a little bit, and had some bandages on. He walked over to stand behind a tall screen, and Ororo worked the controls, and there was a bright flash, and the image showed Kurt's skeletal structure. He came out from behind the screen, peering curiously at the image there, as Ororo darkened the room to get a closer look.  
  
Amanda giggled, pointing at his tail. "It looks so funny like that."  
  
Kurt grinned, staring at the bone structure, amused himself. It wasn't that much different from any normal humans, only his spine was more curved, the tail sticking out behind his back was obvious, and where his hands and feet were, there were actually the full five fingered bone structures there, just squished together so that they became only three or two didgets, slightly elongated.  
  
Ororo was examining the ribcage and nodded slightly. "As I thought, it's not broken, but one bone is slightly cracked there." She turned around and pointed to the bed. "Down."  
  
Kurt sighed, and walked over to the bed, sliding onto it again, and laying down flat on the bed, wincing a bit as he put pressure on his side in the motion. Ororo began rummaging through the bandages, to take care of the problem.  
  
Amanda shifted on her feet, and glanced at the professor. "So...what are you going to do now? Like if everyone knows about you all."  
  
The professor looked deep in thought then spoke up. "I think we'll still try to give it a go. Everyone will have to be careful, however maybe if we're lucky they may come to accept us. I don't' want to give up, not yet." He glanced at her, smiling. "That there are people more like you, willing to accept our differences is what gives me hope that not all is lost."  
  
Amanda flushed a bit, and shuffled her feet. "Yeah, well there's others like me you know, just not as many as the other kinds."  
  
Kurt waved a hand giving a thumbs up from the bed. "Hey, it's better than nothing, right?"  
  
Amanda play pouted at him. "Don't you go moving around and hurt yourself more. I fully expect to see you at school tomorrow."  
  
Kurt looked dubious. "I don't know..."  
  
Xavier wheeled over to the bedside and glanced at Kurt. "You aren't injured enough to skip out on school, unless you're threatened again, I'd like you to go back, but I'm not going to force you Kurt."  
  
Kurt sighed. "Yes Proffessor, I know..." He lowered his head back down, wincing as Ororo tightened the bandages around his chest. "Ow! Careful!"  
  
Ororo snorted a bit. "Baby. It's just a small crack and you're acting like a child."  
  
Kurt grinned slyly. "I still am one, kind of."  
  
Ororo patted him on the head. "Nice try. No, you're not getting meals served to you in bed."  
  
Kurts ears drooped a bit. "Darn..."  
  
Amanda giggled again. "I'd do it for you Kurt."  
  
His face turned a purplish color, blue mixing with bright red. "Er..."  
  
Everyone laughed at his expression.  
  
The next morning....  
  
Kurt winced as he finished up his breakfast. It still hurt to move his left side much, but that wasn't the key thing on his mind. Everyone had been really nice to him all day, after hearing about what had happened. Even Rogue had come and apologized for being so stuffy to him about saving her butt. He was feeling quite a bit better, but a heavy dillema weighed on his mind.  
  
Everyone was gathered outside, and Scott waved to him. "Come on Kurt, no walking today for you."  
  
He wasn't about to complain this time, so ported into the seat behind Scott, and buckled up.   
  
"Um, Kurt?" Scott turned around and peered at him with a concerned look. "Aren't you forgetting something?"  
  
Kurts bright yellow eyes blinked up at Scott, then he grinned faintly. "No, I haven't. I'm not wearing it today everyone knows anyway, and hiding it might just be worse, you know."  
  
Scott looked dubious. "I don't know...did the professor say it was allright?"  
  
Kurt nodded, and pulled his holo watch out of his pocket. "Yah, he said it was my choice. I've got it just in case, but I want to try going without it."  
  
Scott sighed, and shrugged. "OK buddy, your call." And with that they drove off to school.  
  
Kurt definitely had butterflys in his stomach, after all, he wasn't sure if he wanted to do this, but he knew he had to. The proffessor was right on one count, they shouldn't have to hide or be ashamed, however, since the studends knew by now what he looked like anyway, he figured the best way to get them used to the idea, was to have them deal with it directly. He had steeled himself to take lots of crap today..he expected it.  
  
They drove up, and everyone unpiled, and instantly, Kurt felt eyes on him, and hushed silence everywhere. He'd chosen just to wear his normal school clothes anyway, but the white bandages and small splint on his chest still showed beneath the shirt a bit. "See ya later Scott." He waved as the other teen went off to park the car. With a deep breath that hurt his side quite a bit, he turned around, and faced everyone's staring eyes. He forced himself to be calm, and keep his eyes up, and started walking onto the campus. The whole school seemed to be deathly silent as he walked by, but that could have just been due to the rushing blood pumping in his ears that drowned out everything. As he walked, he saw students draw back from him, peer curiously at him, and give him odd looks. But he ignored most of it and kept walking. Amazingly enough... there were no screams....  
  
Halfway to the door, he heard a relieving familiar voice. "Hey Kurt, wait up!" He turned around and saw Amanda and her other friends jogging towards him. As they approached, some of them looked a bit stunned, and Amanda herself looked shocked. "Um.. Kurt, you sure you want to do this?" She took his hand, to let him know she didn't care what he looked like.   
  
He grinned. "Yeah, I mean why not, if everyone else has to face being recognized, so do I...and it's not like everyone doesn't know already, at least they can get used to me this way."  
  
Amanda looked doubtful, just like everyone else had so far. "I don't know Kurt, I think they'll just be meaner to you."  
  
He shrugged. "I'm used to it. But I'm not going to let it get to me anymore. Know why?" He grinned up at her as she shook her head curiously. "Because I've got friends like you." He smiled at her shyly, and on a splurge of impulse, with his heart beating rapidly, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek before she knew what was happening.  
  
She stood there, then blushed deep red and giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Darn you Kurt. You're such a charmer."  
  
He grinned, feeling lightheaded, but not from the injury. "I try my best." And with that they began walking towards the door to the school, everyone's eyes still on them, but now that Amanda was by his side, he didn't feel so alone anymore.  
  
  
End note: No, it's not a Kurt/Amanda fic, again this is just part of a whole. I'm more focusing on general issues, with side plots thrown in. Don't worry, for those of you wanting Kurtty action, it's coming later ^_^. And some others maybe.. we'll see. Imput! This is as far as I've written so far, so ideas are helpful if anyone has them. 


	4. School Daze

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/   
whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's Note: Soooo lots of reviews, got some ideas off of them, I'll try to pay more attention to my grammar thingy, but since word STILL won't work on my computer, i'm without spell check! So you get to be harrassed with spelling errors! mwahahaha  
  
  
Moonlight Reflections  
Chapter Four  
School Daze  
By: NightElfCrawler  
  
  
It was very unnerving for everyone's eyes to be on you constantly... all day long... even in classes....he'd expected it of course, but it still was a weird feeling. The only good thing out of it was that no one had the nerve yet to come and approach him with hostility. In fact, no one was really approaching him all day... oh well.  
  
It'd started out fine, he'd walked down to his locker, silence reigning in the hallway as everyone froze, watching him, even if they'd seen him earlier the previous day, it was still a shock. He hid his nervousness by chatting merrily with the small group of friends who were accompanying him to class. It helped take the pain of silence and stares away.   
  
Kurt smacked his locker as normal, and waved back to Rogue and Jean as they headed off, and Scott patted him chumly on the back and wished him luck, still seeming uncomfortable by this decision Kurt had made.   
  
He didn't really start to feel the reality of what he'd done until he arrived in class... No one seemed to noice when he first came in, paper airplanes were zooming about, and spitwads plastered the chalkboard. He took his seat, and unpacked his things, trying to be non-chalant. It felt odd, since he had mixed feelings about the whole 'in the rough' thing. On one hand, he felt it was the best way to associate the students with the truth, since half of them knew anyway and that was too much for the Proffessor and Jean to wipe memories of, he'd be having to face prejiduce anyway. But if he could make it through one whole day without his holowatch...then he could be pretty sure that he'd survive by switching back and forth, and maybe it wouldn't have to be such a secret, but more of a convienice to keep from being a distraction.   
  
When the teacher showed up, Mrs. Hawkson their boring-as-hell poly sci teacher, the class quieted down, and began to look bored. His seat was in the back of the room by the window, so most of the students had been so preoccupied goofing off they hadn't noticed a blue fuzzy elf-like/demon-like thing had walked into the room. However, as soon as Mrs. Hawkson began to call roll.....  
  
"Wabash."  
  
"Here."  
  
"Waddins."  
  
"Yo."  
  
"Wagner."   
  
"Ja."  
  
Mrs. Hawkson glanced up each time a name was said, and then glanced back down again. When she came to Kurt, she glanced up, glanced down, then froze, and glanced up again staring.   
  
Kurt grinned awkwardly, and gave a small wave, his tail swishing under his chair.  
  
Mrs. Hawkson had of course heard RUMORS of a blue demon that had been a student showing up yesterday... but with all the oddities that typically happened around school, she'd blown it off as just another crazy student doing something absurd.... to see Kurt sitting there, behaving as if everything was perfectly normal that he was fuzzy and blue and in her class was just something that seemed to short circut her brain a bit. Kurt could almost see the gears grinding and smoke drifting out of her ears as she put two and two together, and blinked behind her huge owl-rimmed glasses. "Mr. Wagner." She said quietly, setting her book down. "I sincerely hope that this is just another prank of yours...."  
  
The entire class turned to stare, some gaping, some looking a bit freaked out, some curious, and everyone surprised...  
  
Kurt shrunk slightly in his seat, and gulped a bit. "Er... no.... not really." He managed, seeing some girls cringe when they caught sight of his fangs as he spoke. "Dis is vhat I really look like...."  
  
The whole class seemed to collectivelly blink, and Mrs. Hawkson looked blank, seeming not to be able to comprehend what he'd just said. She seemed to ponder a bit more, as the students whispered quietly amongst themselves, staring at him. He wanted to shrink into nothing, and just fade into the courner, but he steeled himself to sit straight, and alert, not showing any of the fear that crept up his spine inside of him. "I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, Mr. Wagner." She said rather deliberately, still seeming not to believe what she was seeing. "I fail to..."  
  
She was interrupted however, by a jock from the football team in the front row. "He's a friggin mutant, teach... one of them freaks." There were murmers of agreement in the classroom as students glanced at each other then back to him.   
  
Mrs. Hawkson frowned and looked suddenly VERY severe. "MR. Dobson." She said, emphisizing the Mr. very sharply. "You will refrain from using such language in my classroom or risk being sent to detention, do I make myself clear?"  
  
The jock blinked. "But teach, it's true. LOOK at him, he's a mutie! A freak of nature! He shouldn't be allowed to be here!"  
  
Kurt blinked. He'd expected more actually, but steeling himself, he stood up and cleared his throat. Everyone's eyes instantly fled to him, rapt with attention, both in awe, fear, and curiosity. "And vhy does that single me out from going to school vith everyvone else?" His bright yellow eyes glittered at Dobson. "Just because I'm a... 'freak'..." He spat out the word with some difficulty. "Does zat mean I'm somehow lower on ze totum pole and dont' have rights? You know man, zat vas once said about a couple of other races of people....by those you called Nazis... and even futher back...slaveowners....iz this society so blind zat they have to revert to racist ways to feel better about zemselves?" HIs voice had remained calm and even through that small speech, with no hint of anger in it, as he was controlling himself very carefully. He knew he had to walk on eggshells to establish the first steps if he was to continue walking.  
  
Mrs. Hawkson looked impressed, and glanced at Dobson. "Well? What is your counterclaim Mr. Dobson. This is a poly-sci class, and we SHALL get a lesson done today, even if it was not what I had written on my schedual." She guestured and pointed at students. "Assemble a debate squade, pro and con."  
  
Everyone seemed to stare at the teacher as if she was nuts, including Kurt, but then slowly they began to obey her order, and within a few minutes, two horseshoes were formed with desks and chairs, facing each other. Surprisingly, there was a pretty even spread between the two, with nearly half the class on Kurt's side, and just a bit more students on Dobson's side. Kurt felt awkward being the center of this debate, but he wasn't going to drop out of it. And at least he seemed to be supported by some of the students, though most of them were still staring with curiosity on his side rather than belief in what he'd said. A few though sat directly next to him, with firm glints in their eyes, showing they backed him up.  
  
"You may begin your counterstatement Mr. Dobson."  
  
Dobson looked just as uncomfortable as Kurt, being the center of the argument against him, he'd probably not really believed what he'd said fully in his heart, he'd just said it to sound 'cool', Kurt thought. But still, he gave his best shot at the debate. "Well... I mean, people don't LOOK like that...It's not normal, it's like a glitch in evolution or something, a freak of nature. Kinda like a two headed fish. Things like that should be experimented on, not treated like one of us."  
  
Kurt grinned faintly, feeling a good retort coming up. "So, vhat you're saying is zat I'm just a thing now, not sentient... I should be put in a cage like a monkey and taught to do tricks? Vell, no offense, but I can do tricks vithout ze cage." He caught up five erasers from various desks around him, and began to expertly juggle them in his hands, and then flung a few over to his tail and added that into the fray. When he'd finished his brief demonstration, there was a smattering of applause from the class, and many of the students were hiding smiles. He took a quick short bow, and sat down again.  
  
Dobson frowned. "Um... But It's obvious that there's something WRONG with you. I mean, you go walking around school n stuff like that and you're just ASKING for trouble."  
  
Kurt cocked his head. "I don't go up to people and say 'please, could you be nice and give me a bit of trouble sir?'" He rolled his eyes a bit, feeling the fluttering in his stomach still despite his easy-going demeanor. "I can't help ze vay I look. I vas born like dis. Vhy does that give you reason to say dat I have no right to learn, to go about my live how I vant. I have a mutter and vatter just like you. I have citizenship in Germany, that says I am a person, just like you have one here saying you are a citizen of dis country." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair casually. "I even pay taxes."  
  
The bantering went on for the full class session, mostly with Kurt thinking up witty repoirte to shoot back at the rather dense statements that Dobson managed to come up with. By the end of the class, other students had joined in passionately debating with the other side on equal rights, and such. Kurt was basically left out of the discussion, which was fine with him, since the inside of him was glowing with pride at what was happening. When the bell rang, none of them seemed to notice, the debate was too intense. It was only when students heard the loud arguing in the hallway and began to crowd in the doorway, that Mrs. Hawkson had to step in and break the debate up.   
  
Kurt packed up his things, and glanced up grinning and waving at the other students as they waved to him upon exiting. He even got a few pats on the back and handshakes from some of the guys, and giggling titters from some of the girls. When he walked out, Rogue, Jean, and Evan were all standing there, looking surprised. He blinked and cocked his head to the side feigning innocence. "Vhat? Do I have something on my nose?"  
  
Evan blinked. "Dude, K-man...you rock..."  
  
Jean shook her head in amazement. "I don't know how you pulled that off Kurt, but half the school is buzzing about what just happened. It seems all the hall montiors reported to their classrooms what was happening.. the whole SCHOOL knows about it now...." She was giving him a look like 'you're crazy'.  
  
Kurt grinned widely. "Hey, everyone digs the fuzzy dude. They can't resist me."   
  
Scott coughed. "Riight.... Well 'Fuzzy Dude', don't go showing off too much... We're SUPPOSED to be still keeping a low profile here."  
  
Kurt gave him an 'are you nuts' look. "Come on man, a low profile after being on the national news? Keep dreaming!"  
  
Jean sighed, and Evan just grinned and nudged Kurt. "You've got admirers dude." He pointed at a group of girls who were staring their way, and once he turned glancing at them, they disolved into nervous tittery giggles. He grinned wider, and puffed his chest out. "Ohhh yeah...."  
  
Scott groaned. "BY the end of the day, his head will be bigger than his stomach...."  
  
Evan whistled. "Man, and that's saying something."  
  
Kurt slicked his hair back in mock coolness, and was promtly smacked on the arm by Evan. "Dude, tone it down. Like it's great that some people can accept you, but what about the rest of the school... I mean, what on earth prompted you to waltz around without your holo watch, man?"  
  
Kurt glanced sideways at Rogue, who seemed to take a sudden interest in the wall. "Vell... I thought that since you guys had to go through the prejudice and stuff... it vasn't fair that I stood by and vatched it."  
  
Jean, Scott and Evan stared at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted flowers out of his head. Rogue still examined the wall.   
  
"Kurt...." Jean said quietly. "You've had more prejudice than we have... how could you think that it wasn't fair to us...."  
  
Kurt just shrugged, and looked up at them. "Vell... I just like to stand by my friends...through thick and thin." He grinned and shouldered his pack. "Anyvay... I have to go to my next class... catch ya later!" He waved and quickly slipped out of there, before they could detain him anymore.   
  
As soon as he was further away, he slowed down and sighed. His mind was a philisophical mess. He was so certain on some principles, but on others he was confused.... He sighed and paused outside his classroom door, ignoring the stares that he was getting still. Maybe half the school knew about it already, but that didn't mean that it'd be much easier to deal with. Why couldn't life be simpler, why couldn't people just tolerate physical differences just as they did other kinds....  
  
He sighed again, and slipped into his seat, and stared out the window most of his next class. The students and the teacher both gave up staring and trying to get his attention, as it was completely distracted elsewhere, and who wanted to make a fuzzy blue elf jump in surprise suddenly?  
  
When the bell rang, Kurt gathered his things, and just teleported to the ground instead of take the long way, wanting to get back as soon as possible so he could do some workout training to get his mind off of all these confusing thoughts. When he re-appeared on the ground, he startled a few people, and grinned awkwardly to shrug it off, and then decided he'd had enough stares for one day, and flipped his watch on, making the students watching stare even more at the change. He walked down the street, taking the casual way for a change, to clear his head. He'd noticed lately he'd been having problems focusing on things, his mind wandered frequently, and he seemed to be losing his way in life.... His mother had always told him, that he should seek guidance in spirituality... and he wondered if perhaps now was the time to explore that avenue...perhaps more lay there than he'd first given it credit. He walked along with his hands stuffed in his pockets deep in thought, and didn't even notice when he ran smack face into a tree. He fell down and rubbed his face in irritation. "Verdaam....*grumble*" He growled at the stupid tree that had the audacity to be in his way. He jumped a bit when he heard a voice.   
  
"Hey, you done moping around walking into things now?"  
  
He glanced up and saw Scott in his car with the usual crew, Jean, Evan and Rogue. "Ah... I guess I vas a little distracted." He stood up and brushed his rear off casually.  
  
Scott guestured. "Come on, hop in."  
  
Kurt grinned, and did just that, hopping onto the edge of the car first, then into the seat between Evan and Rogue. Rogue made a 'humph' sound, and scooted over a bit more, Evan just smirked and poked his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd say the K-man has his head in the clouds."  
  
Kurt just grinned and poked Evan back with 'two' of his holo fingers. "Ja, but you know better."  
  
The rest of the day went smoothly, the X-men did some training as usual, dinner came soon enough, and lead to everyone eating ravinously after a workout, Kurt always the one doubling that amount as usual. After dinner, each went their own ways, and Kurt found himself lounging on the couch in front of the tv in the rec room downstairs. He was bored, nothing good was on, and he was slouched in the couch in what looked like a most awkward position for anyone normal, but perfectly unordinary for him. His legs were twisted around so that his toes were pointed up at the ceiling, but his tail was curling around a pillow, as his head dangled off upside down from the cushions. His tail held the remote, and expertly pushed the buttons with the triangle tip as he stuffed popcorn into his mouth from a bowl on the floor. He heard footsteps on the carpet from behind, and his pointed ears twitched trying to determine who it was, but unless it was Logan or Beast, he normally couldn't tell. It turned out to be someone he didn't recognize, and he blinked from his upside down position at the new student, who looked tired and sleepy, and hadn't noticed he was there yet, though he wasn't exactly hiding. The girl looked like she had irish blood in her, her hair was flaming orange and very frizzy, almost like she'd stuck her hand in a wall socket. She wore a plain white nightgown with a loose robe thrown casually over it, and some petite slippers on her feet. She blinked her copper eyes that matched her hair, staring at the tv, which had some late night comedy talk show on it. Kurt watched her, not wanting to startle the girl, as most new students reacted that way to seeing him for the first time, no matter who they were. He stuffed some more popcorn in his mouth, and it crunched loudly, making her jump a bit and turn to stare at him. She blinked once, blinked twice, then rubbed her eyes seeming to think she was dreaming. Kurt grinned. "Can't sleep? Can't blame you, some of the guys can be really loud at night, ja?"  
  
She blinked, seeming confused and nervous, but nodded slowly, and spoke in a shy quiet meek voice. "Yes...I couldn't sleep there with them." Her accent was heavily Irish, confirming his thoughs. "I've never been away from me home town before." She stood there uncertainly, watching him with large eyes.   
  
He figured she had to be very young, maybe as young as thirteen or even twelve. He held the bowl up, perfectly without spilling it amazingly from his position, offering her popcorn. "Vant some? It's kind of cold by now, but I put extra butter on it."  
  
She bit her lip and gingerly sat down on the edge of the couch next to him, and took one small piece of popcorn, almost as if she was afraid it would break, the way she held it like a loaded gun. "Thank ye."  
  
Kurt flipped back rightside up, landing in the seat again. "No problem. I vas just about to go to bed myself." He yawned with his mouth open very wide, his sharp canines flashing, and making her eyes open wider. She was so small and frightened, he thought, and not just from him... she seemed scared of everything. "Did you just arrive here today?"  
  
She nodded slowly, her eyes flicking back and forth from looking directly at him, to looking at something just past him, something that only she could see. "Yes..."  
  
He glanced over his shoulder, noticing she was looking past him. "Vhat are you looking at over there?"  
  
She flushed and looked down, staring at the popcorn. "....it's my power... I can see...things that others... can't."  
  
He blinked, curious, and perched on the back of the couch comfortably. "Vhat kind of things?"  
  
She looked down again, fidgiting nervously, then back up, and gave him a tentative smile. "It's like.... hard to explain really.... I see the person who is in front of me, but then I also can see their inner self..."  
  
Kurt blinked, very curious. "Inner self? Like they're true personality underneath?"  
  
"Something like that..." She said slowly. "But it's more complex... sometimes there are multiple parts...." She looked up at him, again with wide eyes. "I've never seen so many though... you have alot."  
  
This was disturbing him a bit. Multiple inner selves? That sounded like some complex or something. "Vhat do you mean... I'm different people?"  
  
She shook her head. "No.... you have different sides to who you really are.... One part is nice, and kind and..." She blushed bright red. "Very...cute..."  
  
His grin widened at that part, and he slicked his hair back more. "Of course!"  
  
Her smile wavered then. "But there are other sides....scared ones, angry ones, lost ones.... You have alot of things bundled inside of you that hides who you truely are... and they're confusing you." She looked up at him slowly. "If you didn't hide them, then they'd discover who you really were, and you wouldn't have so many."  
  
He blinked, thoroughly confused now. "I'm not sure I understand that... You mean I have multiple people inside me?"  
  
"No, no..." She seemed frustrated, and he sensed that she got this kind of explination alot. "It's like... We all have the person we are when we're in public, and when we're alone... when we're happy and when we're sad... sometimes these blend together, sometimes they're separate..." She looked up. "The people with separate ones are the ones hurting inside."  
  
He blinked, and bit his lip, his tail lashing back and forth a bit. "and you see all this in everyone?" She nodded slowly. "Dat must be very hard..." He grinned, to cover up his uneasiness. "Seeing everyone's problems and stuff."  
  
She shrugged faintly. "That's not so bad... it's seeing people who you thought were good, really weren't...."  
  
"Oh..." He nodded slowly, understanding why that would make her upset. "You know, you should talk to Jean.. she knows something like what you're going through..."  
  
She looked a bit brighter as he said that. "Really?"  
  
"Ja! She has telepathic powers, and she hears things sometimes she didn't want to hear.. maybe you two could help each other out, ja?" He grinned. "It helps to have someone who understands you more."  
  
She brightened visibly. "Thank you! I'll try that."  
  
He nodded and waved with another yawn. "Ok, the fuzzy one is going to bed now... Auf Weidersehn." And with a puff of smoke, he was back in his room, laying on his bed, with a sigh. As he was falling asleep, he realized he didn't even find out what the new girl's name was... oh well, he'd see her around like all the others.  
  
  
Author's note: mwhahaha I have a plot in mind.... but it won't develop till the next chapter! I am EVIL! 


	5. Evolutions

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/   
whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: So, I guess people liked the random girl and her powers i stuck in there ^.^ I wasn't planning on bringing her back, she was just one of those 'random student' things, but since people like her, I may. And don't worry, we'll go back to Kitty and her mom!  
  
  
Moonlight Reflections  
Chapter Five  
Evolutions  
By: NightElfCrawler  
  
  
It seemed like any other morning to begin with....  
  
"KURT! UP AND AT 'EM!" Evan was pounding away at his door loudly, waking him with a start. He snorted and rubbed his eyes as the dark skinned, blonde haired boy grinned and opened the door peering in. "Yo, it's Saturday man, you promised you'd come watch me at the tournament!" Evan waved his skateboard over his head, staring at Kurt, who had fallen back asleep, with the sheets over his head sitting straight up in bed. "YO, DUDE!" A blunt spike to the head woke Kurt up again, and he snorted, and thrashed through the covers, and found himself flat on the ground, in a tangled mess. "Come on, eat breakfast and let's go!"  
  
Kurt yawned and stretched, trying to untangle himself from the mess. He poked a head out, hair all mussed up and covering his head like a mop, when suddenly they both heard a loud ominous rumble. "Uh oh..." Kurt said sleepily. "I somehow doubt your tournament is gonna be held today."  
  
Evan groaned, and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains open so he could see inside. "Aw man! It was like fine earlier!" He turned and dashed out of the room. "Auntie O....!!"  
  
Kurt yawned, and scratched his head sleepily, then stood up and grabbed a few things, then headed for the showers. No one was there, as it being a Saturday, they were either up and gone, or still sleeping. He had the whole thing to himself. He took his time, enjoying the hot water and humming to himself as he groomed the difficult fur. Women complained so much about the perfect skin, and how they had to do so much to take care of it... but if they saw HALF of what he had to do in order to keep his fur shiny and smooth, they'd think twice about complaining. He had to shampoo it, then condition it, then brush and dry it, then sleek it again, otherwise he looked like an oversized Furbie.  
  
He did most of his grooming with his eyes closed, still snoozing as he went about the cleaning process, and then once he was out, he just ported directly to his room, got dressed, and then ported to breakfast.  
  
As predicted, not many people were there. The rain that had just begun pouring down didn't do much to help the situation either. The kitchen was empty, save for the ever-silent Logan, drinking his coffee and reading his paper in the corner. Kurt ignored him, as Logan hated to be bothered when he was reading his newspaper, and began unloading food from the fridge by the armful. He was happily in the middle of his meal, when Evan came in, looking glum. "Hey, so is the match cancled?"   
  
Evan groaned and plopped down in a chair, still not looking up. "Yeah... it bites, we have to re-schedual it for next week... and I've got a big test too, so practice and studying is gonna be tough."  
  
Kurt gulped down his juice. "That's weak man... I'm sorry." He chomped on a bagel watching Evan. This meant alot to him, skateboarding was his life. It pained Kurt to see his friend so depressed about anything.   
  
Evan shrugged, and glanced up finally. "It happens I guess, I'll just have to...." HIs voice slowly trailed off, and his gaze remained fixed on Kurt, who was shoving a waffel down his throat.   
  
Kurt paused, fork in mouth seeing Evan's stare. "Mmmf?"  
  
Evan stared, open mouthed then blinked. "K-man...you've got like, serious bags under your eyes or something... you look pretty bad man."  
  
Kurt blinked in surprise, and gulped down his food. "I slept fine. Vhy vould I have bags?"  
  
Evan shook his head slowly, eyes not leaving Kurt. "I dunno man, but you really should do something about em, like put blue marker or something." He snickered.  
  
Kurt gave him a mock insulted look. "Color my beautiful fur! How dare you suggest it!" Evan suddenly grinned wickedly, very uncharacteristically of him. "Hmmm I dunno, pink would just suit you SO well Kurt."  
  
Food ended up being spit across the room as Kurt nearly exploded at the thought. "P..P...PINK!!?" He looked horrofied. "PINK??? NO WAY MAN!" He shuddered, conjuring an image of his whole fur dyed pink, and Kitty tying little bows all over him, and shivered up and down. "Geh.... never.... never...."  
  
Evan was cracking up in the meantime, while Logan watched them with an annoyed expression.  
  
Kurt threw an orange peel at him, and struck him right on the forehead in retaliation. "Bleh, how about I dye YOUR hair pink? It'd look SO cool man."  
  
Evan snickered. "Just you try it, and I'll spike ya."  
  
"Not if you can't catch me first!" He grinned widely, fangs flashing, looking very diabolical.   
  
Evan snorted. "Yeah man, sure." He stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm gonna go to the rec center and practice a bit, since it's raining." He scowled outside at the rain. "Wanna come?"  
  
Kurt yawned, and finished eating his toast. "Um... Sure, I guess I can do some workout too."  
  
"Right on. See ya downstairs." Evan ran off and Kurt teleported back to his room to get his gym clothes on.   
  
An hour later, they were inside the rec center of Bayville, a huge two story complex that had everything from basketball courts, to a small indoors skateboard facility, to a bar set up for gymnists. Evan walked off to the skateboard ramps, and Kurt headed to the gym setup. There were a few people there, and normally he didn't like practicing when others were around. He liked to use his tail after all, and you couldn't do that normally with other people watching. And since he had his holo watch on this time, he wasn't about to use his tail, despite the fact he was a bit out of shape. He watched some of the girls swing about clumsily on the rigs, and sighed. They were so unbalanced! It was embarrassing really. He waited his turn, then when it came hime, he jumped nimbly up, grabbing the pole, and began to swing his body with momentum, his muscles straining with the wonderful feeling of exertion. He did a quick flip and turn to land on the other bars, swinging up on them, and back and forth, doing a graceful routine, that made everyone in the hall stop waht they were doing and watch him. He finished with a final twist and leap off the bars, landing on his feet in a crouch, and was greeted by applause. He grinned faintly, wiping the sweat from his eyes, and did a half bow, pleased by the small amount of attention, then walked over to the bench and grabbed his towel, dabbing his damp face off. Fur always soaked up the sweat and was worse than bare skin, in his opinion.   
  
He sat there, drinking some water he'd brought along, and watched the others practice with idle attention. He heard footsteps approaching, and glanced up, seeing a dark skinned boy who looked faintly familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it, approaching him. "Yo..." the guy said, eyeing him as if he was a tiger waiting to strike. "You're that Kurt kid, aren't you."  
  
Kurt eyed him warily, not liking the way he said 'that Kurt kid'. "Ja... I'm Kurt."  
  
The guy folded his arms and scowled. "Thought so. You think you're some big hotshot don't you." Kurt didn't get the chance to reply, before the guy was poking his chest with a finger rather threatningly. "Yo, stay away from her, you hear? I don't want her hanging around with a freak like you."  
  
Kurt blinked in faint surprise, but not at the situation, it wasn't uncommon. "Away from who?" He said slowly.  
  
The guy glared. "Don't play stupid. My SISTER you blue freak!" He grabbed Kurt's shirt and jerked him upright so they were eye level. "She's got some freaking crush on you, and I DON'T want my sister associating with muties!" He threw Kurt back down, and glared at him. "Got it?"  
  
Kurt stumbled, and fell back on the bench as he was released, and rubbed his chest a bit, watching the guy. "....I think she has a right to choose herself, doesn't she?" THAT had been a mistake, the guy looked about to explode, and reared back for a punch, and Kurt quickly grabbed his things. "I'd love to stay and chat, but...!" 'BAMF'  
  
He re-appeared in the skateboard arena where Evan was pulling some major stunts, and breathed a faint sigh. He'd figured out why the guy was familiar, he was Amanda's brother.... Just wonderful.... He waved down Evan. "Hey, I'm gonna head back... I ran into unexpected company here."  
  
Evan walked over, breathing hard from his workout. "What's up?"  
  
Kurt sighed. "I think I'm going to go back for now. I'd rather not stick around with Mr. Macho wanting to kick my ass, you know."  
  
Evan looked a bit sympathetic. "Yeah, sure man. I'm gonna stay here, I'll get Aunti O to drive me back later. Take it easy."  
  
"Ja, sure! See ya." Kurt turned and then just teleported straight out, and within a couple of stops, he was back in his room. He sighed a bit, feeling slightly down now. Apparently Amanda's family didn't hold a very high opinion of him... He walked to the shower to clean up, and relished in the hot water, washing some of his worries away. People were bound to think that, he realized. That shouldn't stop him if Amanda was ok with it... Once he'd finished up, he walked back down the hallway to his room, and nearly smashed right into Logan as he rounded the courner. "Ach..."  
  
The big man glanced down. "There you are, Elf... Was gonna head back to pick Kitty up, you wanna come?"  
  
Kurt brightened up at that. "Ah, sure! Let me get dressed." He teleported back to his room, and threw on some better clothes, and did a quick check, glaring at the dark splotches under his eyes in irritation. He wished he knew what those were... Oh well, no time to worry about it now. He grabbed a coat, and teleported back out to the hallway, where Logan was waiting. "Ready Herr Logan!"  
  
Logan grunted, and they headed down to the X Jet, and within five minutes were soaring over the ground high in the air, on their way to Illinois again. Kurt sat in the co-pilot's seat, excitedly watching the ground zip by, tail flipping back and forth in excitement. He loved flying, it was almost like what he could do, just more! Logan glanced sideways at him, amused at the kid's bundled energy. He was always wound up one way or the other, and the big guy had to admit, he was fond of the squirt. "Hey, runt." Kurt glanced over at him, and Logan was about to speak, then blinked. Something was off about the runt.... something was different than normal...he couldn't put his finger on it right off, the kid looked as if he hadn't noticed anything. "Er..." His mind connected finding out what was wrong. The kids' eyes looked as if they were glowing... and the darkened spots under his eyes didn't help mute the effect. "Kid, you feeling ok?"  
  
Kurt blinked, not sure why Logan was acting so concerned. "Ja, I'm fine, vhy?"  
  
Logan frowned, but shook his head. "Nuthin. Forget it."  
  
Kurt blinked, concerned. This was the second time someone had hesitated in telling him that something different was with him. He glanced down at his hands, which looked as normal as they ever did, and rubbed his eyes. They had been bothering him a bit today, burning a bit and being extra sensitive to light, but he just figured it must be the same kind of thing as the dark splotches under his eyes, he must not have slept well last night.   
  
After another hour, they landed at the nearby cornfield that had been used previously, and Logan leaned back in his chair. "Gonna snooze here runt. You know where to find me."  
  
Kurt nodded, and ported out of the jet, and began making his way to the edge of the field where Kitty's street was. Kurt peered out from the cornstalks, and double checked his holowatch to make sure it was on, and with a quick *BAMF* he was in front of Kitty's house. He knocked politely, and smiled brightly as Kitty's father opened the door. "Guten Morgen, Herr Pryde!" He chirped.  
  
Mr. Pryde blinked at the kid, then smiled in recognition. "Kurt, come in, the Professor called ahead and said you were coming." He opened the door for Kurt to step in, but was startled by a puff of smoke, and Kurt standing next to him.  
  
"Thanks! Don't mind if I do." Kurt grinned at his confusion. "Is Keety upstairs?"  
  
Mr. Pryde nodded, and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Kurt was gone again with another *BAMF*.  
  
Kurt re-appeared outside Kitty's room, he knew that privacy was necessary especially in one's house, and politely knocked.  
  
"Like, BEAT IT!" came a snappy voice from inside that sounded frightningly like Kitty's.   
  
He blinked, a bit startled by the sharp voice, and hesitated before speaking. "Keety.... are you ok?"  
  
There was a pause, then a soft voice. "Kurt...?"  
  
"Ja....It's you're handsome blue fuzzy one, knocking at your door!" He said cheerfully, turning his holowatch to be true to his words, as everyone in the house knew about his appearance anyway, he didn't have to wear the darn thing.   
  
There was a small sniffle, then the door opened, revealing a red-eyed Kitty, smiling half-heartedly out at him. "Hi... I'm glad you're here." She grabbed his hand and yanked him inside the room before he had time to say much.   
  
"Whoa!" He managed as she slammed the door again, and he stumbled then turned around facing her, confused. "Like, vhat's the rush?"  
  
Kitty glanced up at him, then bit her lip and slowly walked over to her bed and sat down, looking glum. "It's... nothing.. sorry I'm just jumpy I guess."  
  
Kurt blinked, and hopped onto the railing at the edge of her bed, toes curling around it keeping him upright comfortably as if it were the most normal position in the world, his tail swishing back and forth like a cat's. "Jumpy? From me?" He put a hand on his chest in mock drama. "I'm shocked!"  
  
Kitty managed a giggle and looked up at him, then her eyes grew sad again, and she spoke softly. "Kurt...like I know this is an odd question... but.... would you mind taking a walk with me? I... I need to talk to someone."  
  
He blinked, feeling his heart quicken with hope. Even though he was still considering Amanda as a girlfriend, he couldn't put aside his feelings for Kitty... first crushes were like that. "Uh.. sure... but, out of curiosity, why can't you talk to your parents?"  
  
She sighed. "You know... you can't talk to them about some stuff...." She glanced up at him, and looked surprised seeing his blank look. "Like, you know..."  
  
"Um..." he scratched his head a bit. "No... not really. I always talked to mein parents about anything bothering me.... Zey always understood."  
  
She sighed. "Yeah but it's like SO different with you. You were like, BORN a freak, I wasn't..." She trailed off, face suddenly going pale realizing what she'd just said. "Oh God Kurt... I'm so sorry..." She looked up quickly at him with large eyes. "I ... I really didn't mean it like that..."  
  
His eyes were hidden a bit by his bangs, and his body had tightened a bit, tail stilled again, and she could tell he was fighting to keep control of his emotions. "Ah... I know, Keety." He looked up then, and smiled sadly, his eyes seeming dull though. "I know you didn't mean it to sound like zat... but you're right..."  
  
She bit her lip and tentitively reached out and put her hand on his, and felt him tense at the touch. She'd very rarely touched him at all, and for her to do it on her own terms was a rare thing, she felt weird doing it at all, he was so...so...weird. "I'm sorry Kurt... I'm not really myself today....please forgive me, I HONESTLY didn't mean it like that..." Tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes.  
  
Seeing her look, his whole body seemed to relax, and he gently took her hand in both of his and patted it comfortingly. "Ja... I know. You know I can't stay mad at you Keety." He flashed a fanged smile at her. "You're forgiven."  
  
She sighed, and wiped the brimming tears away with her other hand quickly. "I just... I mean, sometimes there are things you can't share with your parents, things they don't, or can't, understand....you need a friend to talk to."  
  
He smiled more gently at her. "Ja... I know. Vhy don't ve go for zat valk now." He jumped off the bed, and grinned at her, pushing his hologram on again since they'd be out in public where most had no idea about mutants still.   
  
She smiled slowly, and stood up brushing herself off, and joined him. Together they walked downstairs, and Kurt waited as Kitty told her parents that they were going for a quick walk, to show him around the place. They seemed doubtful about the two's intentions at first, but agreed to let them go, with an understanding that theyd be back before nightfall. Kitty thought mentally that they'd almost be safer after dark from all the 'weirdos', but said nothing, and walked back to Kurt.  
  
They walked out of the house in silence, and started down the block, saying nothing at first. Kurt kept glancing over at her, awkward at her silence. Kitty was NEVER this quiet.   
  
He sighed heavily, then *BAMF*ed to the top of a streetlight, and made as if he was looking around from a crow's nest. "Argh Kaptain!" He said, mimicking a pirate. "Dere beez rough vaters ahead!"  
  
Kitty giggled, and folded her arms over her chest. "Kuuurt... get down from there! What if someone sees you!?"  
  
He just turned and slipped off of the pole, and she gasped slightly, then sighed in exhasperation as he dangled there from his tail, but with the hologram positioned the way it was, he appeared to be dangling from nothing.  
  
"Kurt.... your incorragable."  
  
He grinned and let go, landing softly on his feet in front of her. "I try!" He grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets and fell into step next to her again. "So, Miss Moody... what's up?"  
  
She sighed and stopped, turning to lean on the white picket fence that looked out into a wide field with a grove of trees standing at the far end of it. "...I dont' know Kurt, like everything's going crazy in my life right now, you know?" She glanced down, playing with the small star of david that she kept hidden on a small gold chain in her shirt, beneath her normal 'T' necklace. "First, like, this whole phasing thing... then the stuff with my mom and my sister... now..." She trailed off slowly.  
  
Kurt frowned, and leaned next to her on the fence, concerned by what she was saying. "Now...? Vhat else has happened Keety?"  
  
She glance at him sadly, and turned around leaning on the fence, folding her arms. "It's probably nothing...probably just stress from everything, ya know?"  
  
He frowned more, and put a hand on her shoulder for comfort, and was pleased when she didn't flinch or pull away. "Vhat?"  
  
"Like, I've been losing control of my power lately... Like I THOUGHT I could control it... but...."  
  
He blinked listening, and thought about what she was saying. "Ja... it could be stress... but on ze other hand..." He frowned and pushed the button on his holowatch, as no one was around for the moment. "Be honest, is zere soemthing different about me... Evan AND Logan both acted veird this morning..." He blinked at her, hoping that it was just something simple, like lack of sleep.  
  
She glanced up, and her eyes widened faintly. "Um..."  
  
He sighed and closed his eyes. "I knew it... dere is something different isn't there."  
  
She bit her lip. "Well... either that, or you like, totally slept bad last night. There's like dark splotches under your eyes...." She peered up frowning. "Open your eyes..."  
  
He blinked them open, looking at her quizzically.   
  
She peered up, and he held his breath as she leaned forward, nearly nose to nose with him, and his heart thudded with the temptation to just lean forward....just once....  
  
Unfortunately, she pulled back frowning, not thinking the same thing he was, focused on his eyes. "LIke, totally freaky, Kurt.. You like have no pupils or anything anymore..."  
  
He blinked. "But Keety, sometimes that ALWAYS happens. It's vierd... sometimes." (ie: yes ^_^ we love incosistancies in the animation sequences... one ep he has pupils, the next none! mwhahaa)  
  
She shook her head. "Like, yeah I noticed that too, but this is different. There's like, no white in them." She pointed to her own eyes, indicating the cornea.   
  
He blinked, confused. "Ah...right." He scratched his head. "Mark one more thing down on the 'veird Kurt list'." He grinned awkwardly, but she could see he was a bit unnerved by it, and she smiled faintly, and just leaned against him. He straightened up startled at the close contact, and stared down at her. She looked so cute and peaceful with her eyes closed like that... "Um..."  
  
"Shh.. just like, be here for me Kurt...I need a friend right now..."  
  
He blinked, but smiled soflty, and glanced at the trees, then suddenly with another *BAMF* they were standing on the fringe of them.   
  
Kitty seemed a bit spooked, and then smacked him on the arm. "Like warn me before you do that!" She shivered. "Totally freaks you out!"  
  
He grinned widely. "Sorry. I just thought perhaps it might be better to be out of sight..."  
  
She nodded, and wandered through the trees casually, as he walked beside her, in his normal hunched over kind of way. She watched him walk, which was an interesting thing to watch in itself. He walked so cat-like, not completely straight up, but yet it seemed normal. If he'd straightened up all the way, then he easily stood taller than her, but the way he normally stood, SHE was the taller one. Her eyes flicked to his tail, idly swishing. That thing had a life of it's own half the time.   
  
After a while, she stopped. "Hey.. Kurt... can I ask you a... personal question?" She looked up at him hesitantly, almost shy.   
  
He stopped and turned around facing her, looking quizzical. He wasn't sure what to expect from her. "Ah... sure." He said finally, not having really been the one to talk about himself much, he tended to avoid the subject.   
  
She sat down on a stump, and watched her hands, folded in her lap, then looked up at him as he crouched across from her casually. "Have you ever...wanted to die.... because of what you are?"  
  
His eyes widened in shock, and instantly felt a stab of fear slice through his chest. "Kitty! You'r enot...!?"  
  
"No!" She said quickly, then softer. "No... I mean I thought about it, but it's stupid... I'd never like, be able to go through with it... But sometimes it's so hard, you know?" She looked back up at him. "But like, here half the time I've been so mean to you, and I realized that if I must feel that way.... I mean you've had it way worse than most of us...."  
  
He sighed softly, and stared up at the branches of the trees thoughtfully. What should he say? Should he tell her the truth? What he'd hidden from everyone for so long? The inner past that he kept buried deep, ashamed and afraid of it. She saw him thinking, and stayed quiet, letting him sort through his thoughts. Finally, he glanced back down at her, eyes sad. "Ja... there have been many times I thought of it... But then I'd realize that would be letting the ones who persecuted me win. And that's the last thing that I vanted." He smiled sadly at her. "Even if it vas hard to make it through some of the things that happened, I always knew that I vould, because I don't quit."  
  
She blinked, and smiled slowly. That was Kurt for you... so heroic. It was like in his nature to be some kind of swashbuckling hero or something. She could picture him with swords in a pirate outfit, fighting Captian Hook or something. "How do you get through it...?"  
  
He shrugged, and stuck his fists under his chin. "Vell... there are many things I think about. Like, my family, those who do love me despite..." He guestured at himself. "Zey know who I really am... and it varms me to know that. I also think about things that are higher in life."  
  
Kitty blinked. "Higher?"  
  
"Ja... I vas made this way for a purpous." He smiled at her gently. "Even if I don't know vhat that is, and even if I hate it sometimes...."  
  
Kitty sighed quietly. "You're such an optimist...."  
  
"Hey, you have to be sometimes." He picked up a rock and began to play with it between his fingers. "Otherwise, you sink into dis horrible blue funk!"   
  
Kitty blinked, then burst out into laughter.  
  
Kurt blinked, then realized how he'd just phrased that, and began joining her, their laughter entwining and echoing in the trees. They finally managed to stop, both gasping for air, and laying on the ground clutching their lungs for air. Kurt propped himself up on an elbow, still grinning widely. "See! Don't you feel better now?"  
  
Kitty grinned back at him. "Yeah, you're right... being depressed sucks, like totally."  
  
He sat back up, crosslegged on the ground, and brushed some leaves out of his hair. Kitty brushed her sweater off that had dirt on it, but somehow complaining about it seemed so trite right now. She watched him, and a thought occured to her that he hadn't answered her question all the way...but she wasn't about to press it when she felt better now. She glanced around the quiet woods, listening to the wind in the trees and the soft chirping of birds announcing that dusk was nearly there. She glanced over at Kurt, who was also staring up at the sky, with a wistful look, and she flushed faintly thinking that he looked way too cute right now.... but what was she thinking?! She was like, totally with Lance....and she was thinking about Kurt... She made an inner face, reminding herself that facial hair wasn't her thing... it was fine for having him as a friend, a confidant.... but certain thoughts that crept a rosy blush into her cheeks should be kept out of her head... shouldn't they? He HAD been flirting with her ever since she'd arrived there.... and at first she'd been freaked out by this fuzzy, blue, elf with a tail chasing after her all the time, pulling stunts to impress her... she'd been cold and rude to him, but as she got to know him better, they'd become friends... and now she found herself thinking that maybe facial hair wasn't so bad after all.... she shook her head quickly, and made as if she were chasing a fly away. No way, her parents thought it was weird enough that she was friends with Kurt, they tolerated him but she could sense dissapproval on several levels with them. If their relationship was kicked up a notch, she'd have alot of things to answer for. Besides, Kurt seemed happy with Amanda, not that Kitty could blame him, that girl was very good looking, and Kitty found herself becoming envious of the busty figure the girl had. Sure, she wasn't as petite on the waist, but the chest made up for it...  
  
She was startled by a sudden blurry image stuffed in her face, and she let out a shriek of surprise, falling over backwards before realizing that it was only a simple wildflower, some derivation of a daisy, that Kurt had been holding. He blinked, looking confused and way too cute. "Vas? Is Kitty afraid of flowers?" He sniffed at it, and made as if he was trying to determine what was so offensive about it, and Kitty had to giggle.  
  
"Man, Kurt... You sure know how to get someone's attention... even if it's like, totally sudden." She sat back up and took the flower froom him, a faint blush creeping into her cheeks. "....I have to ask." She said softly, looking up. "Like, you know I'm with Lance... but why do you keep.. you know... being so nice and stuff."  
  
He blinked, and if she could have seen it, blushed beneath his fur. "I can't help it. I'm a nice guy!" He grinned awkwardly.  
  
She watched him, and frowned. "You know what I mean... it's beyond nice Kurt..."  
  
He shrugged, and looked down at the grass, plucking some strands idly. "Vell... I think you know vhy I do it. I can't help it, you're a cute and nice girl Kitty, sometimes."  
  
She flushed at his outright statement, most guys would beat around the bush. "Um... but like, don't you know it's like, hopeless?"  
  
He blinked up at her. "Vhat do you mean?"  
  
She stared at him. God how naieve was he?! Even in Germany they must know some ettiquite for dating. "Like, I'm with Lance... So... that's it."  
  
He frowned. "I respect zat, Keety. But zat doesn't mean I can't keep trying." He grinned and stood up, stretching, and she could hear audible popping in his spine as he did so, making her flinch. "Vell, ve should head back, ja? It's getting dark."  
  
She frowned, not wanting to stop this conversation, but he seemed to make it clear that it was over anyway, so she sighed, and stood up as well. "Like, ok, fine whatever." She glanced over at him sideways, as he appeared to cheerily walk back towards the way they'd come, and sighed, following him. "Like wait up!" 


	6. Discoveries

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/   
whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: Mwahahaa...   
  
  
Moonlight Reflections  
Chapter Six  
Discoveries  
By: NightElfCrawler  
  
  
They walked home in silence, and the sun was just setting, throwing odd shadows across all of the houses. Kurt had turned his inducer back on, and Kitty couldn't help but feel a bit dissappointed, yet also relived. She had such paradoxial feelings inside of herself for him. On the one hand, she considered him a valuble friend, a nice guy, and a prankster at times. On the other hand, she sometimes couldn't stand him.... maybe that was the way it was with everyone, she sometimes felt that way about Lance. He was such a bragging show-off, but then Kurt showed off too. Espeically to impress her.  
  
Kurt in the meantime, was thinking about Kitty. Why did she avoid him so much, he'd thought that by now she'd be used to his quirks and looks. Yet then sometimes she surprised him by being overly friendly and close... God he wished he could hold her right now. His tail lashed back and forth in irritation, forgetting to stay hidden.  
  
Kitty giggled seeing his tail poke out of the hologram, and Kurt straightened a bit realizing it was out, and gave her an awkward grin. "Has a mind of it's own."  
  
"I noticed."  
  
That was all the speaking they did for another block, then finally Kitty stopped with a sigh. Kurt blinked, and turned back to face her. "Vas ist los?"  
  
She glanced guiltily up at him then bit her lip. "I need your help with my sister still... if you don't mind."  
  
He nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Sure, I promised I'd help you vith that. But I'm still curious as to vhy you vant me to talk vith her...?"  
  
Kitty sighed. "Cause her appearance is kinda.. weird... and like I thought if you talked with her you might convince her it's not so bad, cause other people have problems kinda like hers too."  
  
"Ahh." Kurt said nodding and scratching his nose. "But I vas born like this, I don't know if dat vill be a consolation to her."  
  
Kitty shrugged. "I don't know anyone else who can come close to relating with her though.... at least you know something about it."  
  
Kurt considered that then nodded. "Ja... vhen vill ve see her?"  
  
"After dinner when my parents go to bed. You can get us out and I think she'll be where we used to hang out as kids..."  
  
Kurt nodded. "Ok, but first!" He pointed at the house as his stomach growled loudly. "Let's eat! I'm starving!"  
  
****  
  
Later that night, the two snuck out as planned, and re-appeared back in the tree copse. Kitty then lead the way holding a flashlight to see in the pitch black night. She glanced back once, and was startled to only see a pair of glowing eyes following her, Kurt seemed to completely blend with the shadows, she couldn't even see an outline. How'd he do that? Could he always do that? She didn't watch where she was going and phased right through a tree without looking, and heard a muffled 'thump' and a groan as Kurt smacked right into it. She flushed, this was the second time... no third time, that this had happened. "Oops... like, sorry Kurt."  
  
"MMfffff!" He came out rubbing his face, but she could still barely see him. "Man, do you LIKE running me into trees Keety?"  
  
She hid a smile behind her hand and grabbed one of his, surprising him again for the umpteenth time that day. "Come on, we're like almost there."  
  
She dragged him along, until they reached a small hump in a field just beyond the trees where a small hole big enough for a child to walk upright into was at the base of the hump. Kurt blinked at it with curiosity. "Dis is your hideout vhen you vere a kid?"  
  
She nodded and stopped just outside of it. "Yeah, it's like an old bomb shelter or something. We found it when I was like five." She guestured to him. "Stay here and don't come after me, I wanna see if she's there first." And without letting him protest, she walked into the small cave-like hole.  
  
Kurt sighed and plopped down on a tree stump, and watched with a bored look. Time seemed to drag on, and he lay back and stared up at the many stars that glittered the sky, save one dark splotch that... oddly enough seemed to be moving? He sat up abruptly as the splotch dove suddenly at him, and teleported quickly to a tree branch, watching the thing strike the ground where he'd been sitting. He crouched there alert, staring hard at the thing. He couldn't see much in the shadows, the moon wasn't out yet. However, the thing definately had an un-human shape to it, and something clicked in his mind. "You must be Keety's sister, ja?"  
  
The figure paused, and a head turned to glance up his way, the body still tense. "....who wants to know." came a throaty harsh voice.  
  
He slowly slid off the branch, approaching with caution, and the figure took a step back, obviously able to see quite well in the dark like he was. They appraised each other for a while. He saw a figure who was slightly stumped over, shadowed in the dark. He frowned slightly... the figure seemed vaguely familiar somehow... "I'm Kitty's friend, Kurt." He said trying to sound friendly. "I'm just a harmless blue fuzzball, really!"  
  
The figure turned, and stood up straight, then at that moment the moon began to peek out from the horizon, and it flooded the field with light. Kurt blinked, then horror crossed his face, and he stumbled back, giving a startled cry. "N...no....It can't be...." He gasped, tripping over his tail and landing flat on his butt in the grass. Standing there was a tall boy, who looked otherwise unassuming, but to Kurt, it was a nightmare come true. "....S...Stephan..." And without another word, Kurt slumped over and was unconsious before his head hit the dirt.  
  
Kitty came out, and blinked seeing the figure standing there. "THERE you are. I've been looking for you!" She shivered a bit as the figure turned. "Did you meet Kurt yet?"  
  
Kitty's sister stood there, then half turned and glanced at the unconcious form of Kurt. "He passed out."  
  
Kitty blinked, and rushed to his side worriedly. "KURT!" She felt for a pulse, and found it there, strong and steady. "He just... fainted?"  
  
The girl's voice was quiet and soft. "He called me 'Stephan' and just slumped over."  
  
Kitty blinked. "Stephan? Who's that..." She sighed and poked at Kurt. "Hey... wake up stupid elf...."  
  
"...he's one of us too?"  
  
"Yeah... I was bringing him here so he could talk to you, since he has to deal with looking different too..." She kept slapping his cheeks to try and get him to wake up.  
  
"....I'm beginning to wonder if I really do look different... I mean, he didn't seem to see what you saw, Katherine..." The figure knelt down, and Kitty shuddered, seeing her sister appear to be a big hairy spider.  
  
Kitty shivered. "I don't know.... but.." She stopped as she heard a low groan from Kurt. "Hey, wake up fuzzy!"   
  
His eyes slowly slid open, glowing still, and blinked once. "...Ki...tty...?" He said sounding lethargic.  
  
"Yeah, you fuzzy elf... why'd you pass out?" She helped him up into a sitting position.   
  
He groaned slightly, rubbing his head. "I... thought I saw...." He glanced up and his eyes shot wide open, mouth dropped and his breath caught.  
  
Kitty glanced over at her sister then back. "Easy Kurt, that's my sister... Evette, meet Kurt Wagner."  
  
Evette looked shyly at the blue fuzzy boy, but held a hand out tentatively. "Um.. hi... sorry about scaring you...."  
  
Kurt's breaths were coming in short gasps, and he quickly closed his eyes. "Please... tell me you're not who I see..."  
  
Kitty frowned. "Like, I don't know what you see Kurt..."  
  
Evette sat down on the grass with them. "I'm beginning to think each person sees something different..."  
  
Kitty nodded. "Yeah, like i see this totally gross ugly *shudder* spider when I look at her..."  
  
Kurt blinked, and slowly opened his eyes looking up. "A... spider...?"  
  
"Yeah... totally freaky. What do you see Kurt?"  
  
Kurt swallowed, his eyes staring at Evette with a glazed look. Even his tail was completely still. "I....I see a ... a ghost... from my past..." He whispered, voice shaking a bit. He closed his eyes again, putting a hand to his head. "I'm.. I'm sorry. I just vasn't expecting zat...."  
  
Kitty frowned, confused. "Yeah, well no harm done right?"  
  
"Yeah... sure..." He still sounded shaken up.  
  
Kitty glanced at Evette, who shrugged in silence. "Well, since we're all here, lets go down and talk, k?"  
  
Kurt slowly stood up, and Kitty could feel him quivering, and became even more concerned. What could have worked him up so much that he's terrorfied? She led him down into the small hole, and they climbed in darkness a little way before emerging in a big empty cavern that was lit by a single lantern hanging from a hook in the ceiling. The place was pretty homy, had a few old chairs that looked as if they'd been rescued from a rummage sale, a small table, some rugs and even a few blankets. Kitty sat down in a chair, and Kurt took another, while Evette sat in a third. Kitty saw Evette staring at Kurt, who at this point was still too shaken to notice. "Ok.. so like, you two have met, so like let's talk."  
  
"Talk about what?" Evette said, coldly, making Kurt flinch again. "There's nothing to talk about. I'm a freak of nature."  
  
"Well, I wouldn't use that term.. I mean me and Kurt are different too, but we're not freaks... right Kurt?" She asked hopefully, trying to snap him out of his bubble.  
  
Kurts head lifted, and he avoided looking at Evette. "Um.. ja, sure..." His eyes slid over and looked nervous, but he spoke trying to keep his voice level. "Just because ve look different, doesn't mean ve're freaks... people just call us zat because they're jelous." He joked, but it sounded meek compared to his usual jovialness.   
  
"Jelous? You're not serious." Evette said wryly. "Even you didn't like what you saw in me."  
  
He smiled apologetically, seeming to be slowly getting over whatever shock he'd had. "Um... well there's a good reason for zat... you see, to me you look like... mein dead brother..."  
  
They both blinked, and said in unison. "Oh."  
  
Kitty grimaced. "No wonder you fainted... that'd be like, tottally freaky to see a ghost..."  
  
Kurt tried to laugh, but it came out forced. "Ja....freaky..." He cleared his throat, then glanced at Kitty. "You said you see a spider...? Perhaps your power..." He glanced back at Evette. "Is specific to each person.. zey see something different. Something personal to them perhaps..."  
  
Kitty made a face. "Personal? Like, try you're deepest darkest fear or something.... I HATE spiders... totally... I can't stand them..."  
  
Kurt blinked. "You're afraid of spiders?"  
  
"Yeah... totally freaked out by them..." She glanced at him and frowned. Yet, he'd seen his brother? Did that mean he was afraid of his brother? She would have to ask him later when they were alone. "So, like you really should come and go to the Institute with us.... It'd be like, good for you."  
  
"With everyone seeing their fears in me? I don't think so."  
  
"But, like Kurt show her your inducer thingy."  
  
Kurt blinked, then grinned and pushed some buttons on his watch, and his hologram flickered on.  
  
Evette stared with her mouth open. "How'd you do that?"  
  
Kurt folded his 'human' hands together. "Vell, ze professor gave it to me... he said that it vas because not everyone would understand how I look, and zis is to help me interact 'normally' vith other people. It might vork for you too..." He punched it off, and unbuckled the watch then handed it to her. "Here... try it."  
  
Evette took the watch slowly, and glanced up at him. He reached over, making a point not to look directly at her still. "Here, push dis button here and dis one here." And the watch shimmered on, showing a holographic Kurt sitting across from the real Kurt.   
  
Kitty had to giggle. "Whoa... that's like dangerous, anyone could totally pose as you Kurt."  
  
He grinned slightly. "It looks vierd seeing myself...."  
  
"Yeah totally."  
  
Evette took the watch off and handed it back to him. "You think I could wear something like that and be 'normal'?"  
  
"Yeah, totally! That's why you should come with us to the Institute."  
  
Evette looked nearly convinced. "I guess... Maybe I could give it a try..."  
  
Kitty grinned and threw her arms around her sister, trying not to look at her. The illusion only was visual, it didn't penetrate the physical with her. "GREAT! We can go tomorrow. I'm bushed, and I'm sure Kurt's tired too." She glanced at him as she said that.   
  
He gave a wide yawn. "mmf... Vell I did do some vorking out dis morning... not as long as I'd hoped, but it vas enough to make me a bit tired."  
  
Kitty snorted. "Right, showing off for the ladies again?"  
  
He threw her a flashing grin. "Of course! Vhen do I not?"  
  
She mearly rolled her eyes in response. 


	7. Holidays

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: So I found out I wasn't getting the reviews sent to my mailbox.. thought no one was reading then I finally checked the board. Whoo.. Well here's an explanation for some of my inconsistencies before: A: I had no idea where it was going, so I played with diff ideas. B: I tended to forget what I wrote in previous chapters since I spent so long between em ^_^ C: I just got a new job three months ago and things have been hectic. But I like teasing people too, keep that in mind. ^_^ For those who are curious, is it an Kurnda or Kurtty. ::smirks:: I'll keep you guessing! But don't worry, the next few chapters WILL have lots of Amanda.. And as for what's happening, you read on and see ^_~.  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Seven Holidays By: NightElfCrawler  
  
It was a very chilly day, and despite the warm coat of fur he was used to wearing, Kurt was freezing. He rubbed his hands together, wearing thick gloves, as he stood outside of the school waiting for Scott to find the car. It had to be below 0 or something! He was turning bluer than normal beneath the holowatch. He pulled the hat over his ears more, longer pointy ears looked cool, but they needed to be kept warm since they poked out of his hair. His tail was miserably curled around his waist, and he was irritated that a cold draft kept sneaking up from the place cut in his pants for it.  
  
"Yo, K-man." Evan ran up, bundled up even more than Kurt. "Man, it is COLD out... what's with the temp."  
  
Kurt flashed a grin. "Maybe it vill snow?"  
  
Evan glanced at the sky. "Yeah, I think you're right. If not, tomorrow will be HELL for school... bleh, sitting through another day without heating just sucks, man." Evan rubbed his arms and shivered as well. "We're all gonna catch a bug or something if they don't' fix it."  
  
Kurt nodded in understanding. The heater had mysteriously broken earlier this week after a strange tremor, by the way that had happened more and more frequently in the past year, had shook the building. Of course, all the students at the Xavier Institute knew who to blame... and Lance wasn't hearing the end of it all week if they had anything to say about it.  
  
Their breaths hit the air in large icy clouds, and they both hopped up and down on one leg after another to keep moving in warmth, just as Scott drove up. It was days like these they were glad his convertible had a top with an AWESOME heating system. "Hey guys, get in." Scott said opening the door for them.  
  
They both wasted no time piling in, finding Kitty and Rogue already in the car. "Brrr... Man can you guys like, hurry up, you're letting the cold air in!" Kitty complained, as Rogue just pulled her thick black jacket closer to her.  
  
They hopped in, Evan in the front seat, and Kurt managed to wedge into the back beside Rogue, and Scott took off, the heater blasting. "Ahhhh... now that's a vonderful feeling." Kurt said, turning his holowatch off, peeling his gloves off, and unzipping his jacket as the blissful heat warmed them right up.  
  
Rogue snorted a bit, and just looked very unhappy to be sitting in the middle.  
  
Evan turned around halfway as much as his seatbelt would let him. "So, you going home this year for the holidays?" He said generically to everyone.  
  
Kitty nodded. "Like, duh!"  
  
Rogue just looked away, with a long suffering glare directed at the roof.  
  
Evan blinked, shrugged, and glanced at Kurt. "What about you?"  
  
Kurt grinned. "Ja... mein plane leaves tomorrow bright and early!"  
  
Rogue glanced over at him. "If it leaves you mean."  
  
Kurt glanced at her with a quizzical look. "Vhat do you mean?"  
  
Rogue raised an eyebrow. "You mean you haven't been listnin' ta tha weather report?" She snorted. "They're callin' for a blizzard to blow in tonight."  
  
Everyone watching could visibly see his ears droop. "Oh great...."  
  
Kitty gave her roommate a look of disgust. "Like, you know how bad weathermen are at predicting the weather... they could be wrong."  
  
Kurt perked up a bit. "Ah, right."  
  
They drove back and hopped as quickly as they could from the car into the institute before their toes could freeze in the snow. Once inside, everyone split up into groups to go study, work out, or whatever they normally did before training. Kurt ported to his room and started blasting his stereo, dancing around to the music as he unpacked his school books. A half packed suitcase was on his bed, and he jumped on top of it, then swung up to the chandelier to get a better perch to read from. He always loved to read upside down, it helped him think better, with all the blood rushing to his head. On other people it'd make them dizzy or lightheaded, but he was perfectly suited to it.  
  
As he read, he glanced over to the side, and saw someone making their way up through the snow. He didn't recognize her immediately, but something tickled his mind, so he teleported down to the main room which was empty. He flicked his holowatch on, just in case, and waited as the girl approached. As she walked up to the doors, he recognized her, it was Risty, Rogue's friend. He opened the doors quickly for her. "Hi! Vhat's up?" He said cheerily.  
  
Risty gave him a flashing grin, and pulled her hood down shaking her head a bit. "Brr... talk about your freezer out there." She glanced at him, and he thought he caught a flicker of some other emotion in her eyes before it passed. "Is Rogue here?"  
  
"Ja, I think so, she came home vith us anyvay." He glanced up the stairs, no one was there still. "Vant me to take you zere?" Risty looked at him, then suddenly grabbed his wrist, startling him, but luckily he was wearing a long sleeve shirt. "Er... vhat's up?"  
  
She lowered her voice. "I have to be honest with you Kurt... Rouge doesn't know this, and neither does anyone else, but I know about this place... more than you can imagine."  
  
His eyes shot open wider. "Um.... ja it's a pretty cool school and all..." He fumbled for an excuse.  
  
Her eyes suddenly flashed a different color gold than what they were, and Kurt froze. He knew those eyes. "You know what I mean." Her voice had lost that English accent, and turned darker, deeper. His fur stood on end, not knowing what SHE wanted.  
  
"V...vhat are you doing..." He gulped out, not liking the way she was holding him still. "Vhy are you here."  
  
Risty let him go then, her eyes changing back and voice turning back to normal. "We have to chat sometime, it'd be a bloody fun time."  
  
He blinked, then glanced over and saw Rogue coming down the stairs, and bit his lip. "ah... Sure... I guess..."  
  
"Hi Risty!" Rogue waved, and then shot Kurt a look like 'don't you have better places to be?'.  
  
Kurt quickly straightened and stepped back. "Vell, I have homevork to do, and packing..." And with that, he dashed up the stairs quickly, heart still pounding in fear. What in the world did Mystique want to talk to him for? He went into his room, and turned the watch off, throwing it onto his dresser, and plopped on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Zat vas very vierd..." He muttered.  
  
"Like, what was?"  
  
"ACH!" This time, he did jump up and cling to the bedpost, as Kitty's head appeared in the middle of his bed suddenly. "GEH! Kitty!" He dropped back down as she rose up out of the floor. "Vhat are you trying to do, scare me?"  
  
She just gave him a 'yeah right' look and sat on his bed, poking at one of his books with a pencil. "So, I have a personal question to ask..."  
  
Kurt blinked and stood up, facing her, not sure what she meant. "Ok...."  
  
Kitty rubbed the back of her neck nervously, and shifted on her feet. Kurt sighed mentally as he watched her slender form..  
  
"Helloooo!" Her hand waved in front of his face suddenly, and he jumped with a yelp.  
  
"Ah. sorry Kitty." He blushed a bit and looked down at the bed playing with a loose string.  
  
"Like you are so spacy sometimes." She put her hands on her hips and looked semi-cross. "Anyway." Kurt sat up, hugging a pillow to his chest and cocked his head to the side. "Sure, vhat is it?"  
  
Kitty sighed and plopped down on the bed next to him. "You and Amanda.. You're really happy together aren't you?"  
  
He blinked a bit surprised at that, but smiled faintly and nodded. "Ja.I've never been happier."  
  
She bit her lip. "Did you know when you saw her that she was special?"  
  
Kurt wondered why she was asking him this, but he folded his arms over his knees and thought. "Well.. not right off. I was shy and nervous, since I had no idea she already knew what I looked like, so I was so worried about her finding out I didn't really notice. but. after the dance and I found out she knew what I really looked like, and she didn't care, ja, I suppose I did know she was special. you don't meet many people like that."  
  
She sighed a bit and seemed glum. Kurt leaned forward. "What's wrong. is it Lance?"  
  
She nodded. "Yeah. like. I keep breaking up and getting back together with him you know...It's like, I really like him and all, but he can be such a jerk."  
  
Kurt nodded a bit. "Ja. that's true." He scratched his arm a bit. "He's not a bad person really, he just wants to act like it..maybe you can make him see the truth sometime?"  
  
She smiled sadly. "Maybe..I just don't see him changing."  
  
"Hey, it could happen. This is the time for miracles, ja?" He flashed her a grin.  
  
She smiled brightly. "You're right Kurt, thanks!" She launched herself at him and gave him a big hug, which surprised him, but he smiled and hugged her back gently. She pulled back and waved hopping off his bed. "Well, better let you finish packing. I'm leaving tonight, so I'll see you after the break!"  
  
Kurt grinned back and waved. "Ok.Happy Chanukah Kitty!"  
  
"Thanks Kurt.. Merry Christmas to you too." She grinned and waved, then ran out.  
  
Kurt sighed a bit. He was glad that Kitty had warmed up to him so much.when he thought what it had been like when they'd first met, he still marveled that he was so at ease and comfortable here.  
  
With a grin, Kurt finished packing his suitcase, and bamfed down to eat dinner. 


	8. Ramifications

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: So I don't have much to say.. other than I've got the actual plot starting to peek it's way through in this one. ^_^ and Internutter inspired me to insert Amara..mwhahaha. Oh, and this comes before/in lieu of 'The toad the witch and the wardrobe' in case you're wondering. Oh, and please, no flames. I write simply because I enjoy it, and if people start ratting on how bad I'm doing, then I just stop doing it. This is my first fanfic in over 3 years now.so I think I'm allowed a little leeway.  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Eight Ramifications By: NightElfCrawler  
  
The good news was, it turned out to be a very snowy day, a perfect example of what the day before Christmas should look like.  
  
The bad news was..the blizzard canceled Kurt's flight..  
  
Kurt sighed moodily staring out of the window at the flurrying snow, trying not to let the news get him down. He could still fly back during the spring holidays.. That was the up side.. On the downside, he was stuck here while everyone else got to go home, save Rogue, Charles, and Hank..  
  
A slamming door alerted him, and his head jerked up, staring down the hallway from his perch in a window seat, and saw Amara stalking angrily down the carpeted floor way like all hell had broken loose. He wondered if it might be a good idea to flee..  
  
Amara was practically radiating heat, she was so upset, threatening to ignite curtains and knickknacks as she walked by. She spotted him and scowled, finding a victim to unleash her royal problems on. "You! Peasant! This is all your fault!!"  
  
Kurt rolled his eyes, knowing it wasn't, whatever IT was. "Oh? Vhat did I do this time?"  
  
Amara scowled and stomped a foot. "I can't go home. I must suffer to stay at this ungrateful hovel without gracing my homeland with my presence!"  
  
Kurt blinked. "Ah.. well I guess we'll be staying here together then."  
  
Amara blinked and then it seemed to click. "You are staying here!? With myself?! This is an outrage! I will NOT tolerate it.!"  
  
Kurt just sighed. It was going to be a loonnnnng two weeks. He hadn't been able to get another flight out on such a short notice, and the Blackbird was out for repairs.So he had to find some more amusement, away from the prissy princess. He stood up. "Well zen I'll make myself scarce for you." He grinned evilly, then bamfed out, and within a split second returned with a hand full of cold snow, slid it down her back, and teleported away before she could react, keeping his fur intact. He arrived in the rec room, and was satisfied to hear a shriek from the upper hallways.  
  
He chuckled and plopped down on a couch. The phone suddenly rang, and he eagerly popped up and teleported to the kitchen, and grabbed the receiver. "Hallo, Xavier Institute, Kurt speaking."  
  
He heard a familiar voice on the other line the moment he picked it up. "Hi Kurt. I guess you're staying then.. I heard about the airport problems."  
  
He grinned brightly and cheered up instantly. "Amanda! Hi! Um. yeah unfortunately I can't go home." he flopped on the couch and sat back staring at the ceiling, phone in hand. "And the proff can't give me a ride either."  
  
"I'm sorry fuzzy." She did sound truly sorry. "I know you wanted to visit your family.."  
  
"Ja, true. but maybe I can make it back during the spring instead.." He fiddled with his tail with one finger.  
  
"Hopefully you can, I know it must be tough being so far.I'd really love to meet them sometime.. Oh, speaking of meeting." She trailed off meaningfully.  
  
He sat up a bit, his heart thudding a quicker cadence. ".Yes?"  
  
"Why don't you spend Christmas with here with me and my folks? I'd hate to hear of you spending it all alone."  
  
He flushed brighter at the thought of spending the holiday with Amanda.. "That would be great.." He grinned unconsciously, not noticing that someone was watching from over his shoulder with a death glare... "But.I don't know.what if my image inducer goes on the fritz.."  
  
"Come on Kurt, it'll be fine, trust me! Besides, I want to show them the real you.."  
  
He bit his lip. He still didn't know why Amanda had been avoiding him for a span of time.but he almost didn't want to ask since she was being so open again. "I don't know if I'm ready for that..."  
  
"Well when will you be ready Kurt? You have to jump into the water sometime. if you put it off too long you'll just put it off all your life!"  
  
He sighed a bit, inwardly knowing that she spoke the truth.. he couldn't put it off forever. maybe she was right.start small and work up. "Maybe..you don't think they'd. you know, freak out or something?"  
  
"Come on Kurt, my parents are pretty open about most stuff..they'll understand.and if you really don't want to do it, I won't force you."  
  
He sighed a bit pondering it. "Let me think on it. but I'd love to spend Christmas vith you.." He grinned at the thought of sitting by a warm fire, snuggling with Amanda, a hot cup of coco in their hands.. He realized he'd been spacing out a bit as Amanda repeated his name again.  
  
"Kurt? Hello? You there?"  
  
"Ach, sorry!" He blushed and grinned a bit though she couldn't see it. "So..should I port to your house sometime tonight?"  
  
"Sure, why don't you arrive at five. We normally go out to eat, but.with the weather how it is, I think we'll just stay home, watch a movie. you know."  
  
He agreed, and they said their farewells, and he hung up, laying there for a few minutes. He felt lightheaded and excited at the same time. He hadn't felt this elated since he'd first met Amanda.. He rolled over and sat up, and yelped in surprise coming face to face with a fiery, angry, dangerous looking Magma.. "Um.. Amara. Hi!" He gulped backing up quickly from her.  
  
"YOU!" She growled raising a flaming ball in one hand to heave at him.  
  
He knew what was good for his health, and quickly did a back flip and evaded the fireball as it slammed into the wall. "Hey! Careful! The proff won't be happy if you burn ze house down!"  
  
Magma pouted, which was hard to see when she was flaming. "I shall punish you, evil peasant! How dare you touch my royal person! And with a cold substance none the less!"  
  
He chuckled a bit. "Come on, it's just a joke!" But he blinked, seeing her flame slowly extinguish.. was she finally getting a sense of humor?? But instead, she just looked rather glum. At first he feared a trick on her part, but then realized she wasn't the sneaky type. He jumped off the couch and walked over to her. "Vhat is it, Amara. it was just a joke, I didn't mean anything by it."  
  
She shook her dark haired head and hid her face underneath the long strands of hair. "It's not fair.."  
  
Kurt frowned a bit. He knew he hadn't seen Amara looking actually glum at all.. enraged, pouty, prim.yes. but not glum. "Vhat's not fair?" He thought he knew. "Not being able to return home for the holidays?" She nodded once. He knew better than to touch her even to comfort her.. she'd nuke him no doubt. "Hey, it's not so bad. Ja, it's not fair, but that's life ja? We sometimes get the short end of the stick. instead, ve can goof off around here and annoy one another all vacation!"  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes rather haughty and disdainful, but sad as well. "Like I would want to spend MY quality time with a mere barefooted peasant.disgraceful for a princess."  
  
He snorted. "Ja ja, ve've heard it before." He wished she'd get with the program and stop behaving like the spoiled princess she was. Of course he'd never visited Nova Roma before.. But from what he'd seen of her, he didn't think he'd like it much.  
  
She just sniffed at him, putting her nose in the air, even with slightly reddened eyes from pouting. "You know nothing, filthy commoner."  
  
Kurt's eyebrow twitch. "Ok, look I don't really care about ze peasant thing, cause well, it's true, since EVERYONE here is a peasant if you consider the definition. but the filthy does NOT apply." His tail twitched in irritation as he tried to keep rather calm. "I bathe more often than most guys, and am very picky about hygiene.so if you're going to use an insult, get it right." He waved a hand, and turned, heading out of the rec room, back towards his room, leaving Amara standing there by her lonesome. He sighed a bit as he walked back down the hallways. He knew that she probably was just acting that way to get attention or get a rise out of people. but he was tired of dealing with it.  
  
Oh well, he thought to himself. Finish wrapping everyone's gifts, then pop over to Amanda's for a wonderful evening..Speaking of which, better ask the professor. He bamfed quickly over to the professor's study, and knocked, then walked in, finding him reading a book with Hank enjoying another by the fire.  
  
They both looked up as he entered and smiled. "Hello Kurt." Hank greeted, taking his spectacles off.  
  
Xavier lowered his book and raised an eyebrow. "I heard..a bit of an argument earlier, is everything all right?"  
  
Kurt grinned awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, that was just the usual, professor.. Don't' worry about it. Um, I came to ask you if."  
  
He was cut off as Xavier lifted a hand. "Yes, you may spend time with Amanda." He smiled at Kurt's surprise, and faint suspicion that he'd been listening in. "Don't worry Kurt..Amanda's parents called me earlier and asked if you might spend tonight and through tomorrow with them.. apparently they plan to go skiing tomorrow if the weather lets up."  
  
Kurt's eyes brightened. "Skiing!!" He grinned brightly. He LOVED to ski..He'd only been a few times, but he'd taken to it like a duck to water. "She didn't say anything about that!"  
  
Xavier chuckled. "Well, if you wish to go, feel welcome to, just be careful.. I would take a couple of inducers with you to be on the safe side."  
  
Kurt nodded quickly. "Yes professor, I will be careful..trust me." He grinned brightly. "Thanks a lot!!" He waved to Hank and bamfed out, returning to his room in a puff of smoke. He began digging through his heavier garments, and pulled out some nice thick sweaters and some waterproof fleece lined pants, stuff he hadn't worn in quite a while, since he normally wasn't out in the cold long enough to need them, his fur kept him naturally insulated. He pulled out some warm gloves and thick socks, specially made for his feet of course. He quickly packed all these things, plus a few extras like a hat, scarf, and his necessities, into a duffel bag.  
  
When he'd finished all that, he quickly went into his closet and pulled out several big bags of brightly wrapped gifts. Kurt loved shopping for other people..and so thus he'd bought a gift for everyone in the institute, and some of his friends from outside too. He bamfed once more to arrive downstairs where the decorations were all set up. Granted, most of the students wouldn't get their gifts till after they came back, since this year things had been too hectic to do their pre-arranged gift exchange. He smiled backing off as he admired the many parcels now decorating the tree's under branches, then teleported back to his room to finish up. It was reaching five already, and he was getting more and more excited.  
  
He finished packing, and glancing at his watch, saw it was time. He took a deep breath, and turned the holowatch on, checking to make sure he had three spares with him, then grabbed his duffel, and the bag that had Amanda's present in it plus some flowers that he'd found in a vase for her parents. He took a deep breath, pulling the warm jacket close, and teleported out of the mansion to a spot he knew, then again once more to arrive in front of Amanda's house. The snow was blowing intensely around him and he shivered, and quickly dashed for the front door. He pushed the doorbell quickly, checking quickly to see that his inducer was working.  
  
The door opened and a very exotic and beautiful woman stood there, looking a bit surprised that someone had braved the storm to come there. "Yes?"  
  
"Um.. hi, Mrs. Sefton." Kurt said nervously. "I'm Kurt Wagner.?"  
  
The woman smiled and brightened. "Oh yes.. Kurt, come in come in, it's very cold out there." He quickly walked in, careful to stomp the snow off of his feet at the mat. He shivered a bit as the warmth from the house hit him, knocking the chill off. He set his packages down as Mrs. Sefton bustled around. "My goodness dear, how in the world did you get here in this storm?" He noticed she had a slight accent, but couldn't quite place it, he was too nervous.  
  
"Ah. well. um." He stammered, not sure how to explain it.  
  
"One of the guys at the institute drives this all terrain vehicle.. kind of like a Hummer, right Kurt?" Amanda smiled coming down the stairs, looking just as stunning as ever in a dark blue sweater and tight pants.  
  
Kurt flushed a bit. "Uh, yeah. It's very weather resistant!" He grinned as Amanda sidled up to him. "Hi Amanda."  
  
"Hi yourself." She said, smiling brightly, her warm brown eyes peering into his, making his insides churn with excitement. "Hope you like skiing, I forgot to tell you about what we're doing tomorrow."  
  
He grinned a bit, peeling his heavier jacket off. "That's ok, the professor told me.." He glanced up at Mrs. Sefton and smiled awkwardly. "He said you'd called and asked in advance."  
  
She nodded. "Yes, Kurt.we thought that it would be wonderful for you to join us on our annual skiing trip." She took his coat from him and hung it up in the hall closet. "And please, call me Margali, we are very informal here."  
  
He nodded, again something flicking in the corner of his mind at her name, but he ignored it. He was here to enjoy himself, and hopefully win their trust in him with their daughter.  
  
A tall dark skinned man walked into the room and smiled in greeting. "You must be Kurt." He offered a hand, and Kurt was a bit relieved he hadn't removed the warm gloves yet, and took his hand. "We're glad you could come."  
  
Kurt grinned, feeling a bit more at ease by their friendly greetings for him. "Thanks! I'm really glad you invited me.oh!" He bent down and pulled out the flowers, which had some snow drifted across the petals. "These are for you. er. for your family. er.ja.." He flushed a bit and handed them quickly to Margali.  
  
"Why thank you Kurt! They're lovely, I'll go get a vase for them." She walked off towards the kitchen.  
  
Amanda's father waved. "I'm going to start the roast, hope you like pork Kurt." He followed his wife into the kitchen.  
  
Kurt relaxed a bit more when they'd left. He grinned over at Amanda, and she smiled back at him. "So. Here's your present." He dug it out and handed it to her. She looked pleased. "I'm sorry it couldn't be more. things were really hectic lately." He rubbed the back of his head, and remembered his gloves were still on, and peeled them off, sticking them in his coat pocket. He grinned over at Amanda. "So. skiing huh. Did I ever tell you I'm an expert skier?"  
  
She laughed a bit. "Why does that not surprise me. you probably just teleport around, finding the best ski runs."  
  
He grinned. "Well normally yes, but if it's crowded then I can't exactly do that now can I?"  
  
She laughed. "silly, It's Christmas day, no one is ever out on those slopes. the ski run we go to is like the only one open at all."  
  
He grinned. "Excellent. time for some of the fuzzy one's famous ski maneuvers.."  
  
Amanda shook her head amused at him and placed the present below the tree with the others. "Sure, 'fuzzy one'..just don't' fall down and break your tail." She gave it a playful tug beneath the inducer's field of reach. She smirked when he squirmed a bit. "So have you decided?"  
  
He bit his lip and paced a bit. "I. I don't know.I don't want to ruin a nice evening.."  
  
"Oh come on, you're not going to ruin anything Kurt." She said rather exasperated, throwing her hands up. "Why are you so paranoid about this?"  
  
He blinked and stood awkwardly. "Because. I've seen it all before.they either scream, or throw things..or both."  
  
She sighed. "I think you're being melodramatic."  
  
He raised an eyebrow at that and felt slightly resentful, then thought about it a bit and realized she was right. he had to stop being so scared of showing who he really was to others.. "all right." He sighed a bit. "When do you think is the best time?"  
  
She smiled. "During dinner. I'll bring up the subject and we'll wade into it slowly. Trust me Kurt, they'll like you no matter what you look like." She took his hand and pulled him into the dining room after her. "Now come on, I can hear your stomach growling from under all those layers of coats."  
  
Dinner went well for the first part of it. Kurt was asked about his background, why he'd come to America, what his likes and dislike were, typical dinner conversation. The dinner was astounding as well, rich turkey with a cranberry sauce gravy poured over it, stuffing, potatoes, rolls, you name it they had it. The Seftons were amazed at how much Kurt could eat. Eventually, just as Margali was serving dessert, Amanda brought the topic up.  
  
"So.. Mom, Dad.. you know all this stuff on the TV lately about mutants?" She was carefully wording what she said, treading lightly.  
  
Margali nodded, and Amanda's father chewed his pie thoughtfully. "Yeah, has been on there a lot..weird stuff."  
  
Amanda and Kurt exchanged quick glances. She continued. "Well, what do you think about mutants?"  
  
Her dad shrugged. "I couldn't care less, long as they don't start causing trouble with my family. same as any other." He shoved more pie in his mouth.  
  
Margali seemed to watch Amanda thoughtfully. "I suppose I am the same, dear..It alarms me that these 'mutants' have such powers that could do harm.. But people with guns are just as dangerous.yet we cannot separate them..It depends on the individual I suppose."  
  
Amanda seemed a bit hesitant, but Kurt decided to beat her to the punch. "Ze reason she's asking. is because ve vant you to know the truth.." He swallowed and spoke up hesitantly. "I am a mutant..so.that's why.."  
  
Both her parents seemed to stare at him curiously. There was an awkward silence for a little while, then finally Margali spoke up. "And what exactly is your power then, Kurt."  
  
Kurt took a breath and stood up. "I'll show you." He ported to the other side of the table, and both of them let out a startled gasp. He grinned embarrassed, and walked back to his seat.  
  
Margali looked doubtful, but Amanda's dad seemed impressed. "You can do that anytime you want? Anywhere? That's a pretty handy gift."  
  
Kurt's smile broke into a relieved grin. "Ja.. It is handy." He flashed a grin at Amanda, who was giving him an 'I told you so' look. "But." He remembered he wasn't through this yet. "There is another thing that makes me different too."  
  
They both watched him with curious expressions. "And that would be..?" Amanda's dad asked curiously, while his wife sat there looking sullen.  
  
Kurt took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Well.I don't look like this normally.I wear this." he held his wrist up where the watch was. "it's a hologram.to make me look 'normal'." He saw their suspicious looks. "I will show you...just. don't be scared ok?" He didn't bother to wait for their nods, but flipped the watch off, and his fuzzy self flickered into view.  
  
They sat there, speechless for some moments, taking in what they'd just seen. Kurt stood there nervously, rather guiltily, his tail flicking back and forth like a nervous cat. After he couldn't stand it much longer, he raised his eyes awkwardly to watch them. "It's...just appearances." He said quietly, as he met Amanda's Dad's startled eyes, and Margalis' shocked ones. "It doesn't change who I am inside.."  
  
After a painstakingly long moment, Amanda's dad laughed slightly. "Well. Now I see what Amanda meant every time I overheard her talking to someone called 'fuzzy' on the phone." He smiled more. "But you're right Kurt, it's just appearances. As long as you treat my daughter right, it doesn't matter to me, right dear?" He glanced over at Margali.  
  
Margali was still looking stunned, and seemed to be unable to tear her eyes away from Kurt. She had to be nudged with an elbow before she snapped out of it. "Oh. er, of course you're right dear." She seemed oddly detached though. "We accept you for who you are.."  
  
Kurt sighed and sat down grinning in relief. Amanda leaned over to him and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Told you they wouldn't freak out."  
  
Kurt laughed a bit more easily and shoved some pie in his mouth. "Ja, you were right."  
  
They finished dessert without much more of an incident, and not too much of an awkward situation either. Kurt eagerly helped out by washing the dishes with Margali. She still seemed to be a bit unnerved by something, and Kurt felt awkward as he helped, but tried to make things light by drying the dishes with his tail and a foot, while washing with his hands. Margali kept throwing glances at him, between faint smiles at his balancing act. "You have very impressive skills." She commented as they finished the last dish.  
  
He grinned and put the rag away. "Ja.thanks. I used to be an acrobat in ze circus"  
  
He luckily didn't see her choke slightly at that comment and look pale. "Er.that must have been fun." She commented dryly. "Why don't you go out and spend time with Amanda now.." She ushered him out of the kitchen, and he blinked a bit confused, but obliged.  
  
Amanda was sitting in front of the fire, sipping hot coco, and with a grin he teleported over to her, surprising her a bit. "Kurt! Don't do that! You're gonna give me a heart attack."  
  
He smiled teasingly, and handed her his present. "Merry Christmas, liebchen." 


	9. Vacation Time

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: I got requests to continue this ^_^ I've been putting it off cause I ran dry of ideas, but I came up with one in the shower last night, so here you go, per request Melissa.  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Nine Vacation Time.and an Accident By: NightElfCrawler  
  
The mountain was a pile of white as far as the eye could see. Kurt breathed in the crisp air, staring up at the clear blue sky that had arrived early that morning. He stretched and grinned widely. He loved skiing..  
  
He heard the crunch of snow behind him, and turned seeing Amanda walking up, skis over her shoulder. "So. explain to me again how you fit into ski boots?" she asked curiously staring at his feet, which were uncomfortably stuffed into some large boots.  
  
He laughed. "Um.. lots of padding for socks, and some rope."  
  
She laughed at that, trying to picture it. "I'm sure that can't be comfortable."  
  
"Since when are any ski boots comfortable." He snickered. "It's not so bad.. that's what the padding is for."  
  
She laughed and handed him his skis. "Right. ok! So dazzle me with your skills, fuzzy."  
  
Kurt winked at her and pushed off towards the ski lifts, Amanda short on his tail, not literally since he had it safely stashed. They both boarded the ski lift in the same chair, and rode up the mountain, enjoying the frigid air and the undisturbed view of snow beneath them.  
  
As they rose up, the snow began to fall again, but not in the torrent from the day before, only a light dusting enough to catch in their hair and lashes. Amanda giggled and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Wish you didn't have to wear that thing." She said glancing up at him. "Blue and white clashes so nicely."  
  
He grinned a bit and glanced around. "I almost couldn't, there aren't any people out here. but ve have to play it safe still.." He winked. "We'll have a snowball fight back at the mansion later and you can marvel at the color combination."  
  
She grinned and tweaked his ear playfully, and they both pushed off from the lift as they landed at the upper station. He instantly slid off, and spurred forward, turning expertly and throwing snow all over the trees as he skidded waiting for her to catch up. He grinned as she snowplowed towards him.  
  
"Showoff." She smirked at him.  
  
He held his hands up innocently. "Me? Nahh.." He winked and pointed down the steep hill. "Ready to go?"  
  
She peered down and gulped. "Why couldn't we go on the intermediate first to warm up. I've only been on a diamond run once or twice."  
  
He laughed. "It's fun. And you have to learn how to parallel, you can't go down zis run like that." He straightened her legs with his tail, since they were quite alone on the mountain top. "Bend your legs, flex them. Don't keep them locked or you won't pivot. Then just lean your weight and bounce." He grinned.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Easy for you to say, Mr. Athlete."  
  
He just smirked. "Don't make me carry you down the mountain on my shoulders young lady."  
  
She rolled her eyes and tried to push off, doing as he showed her, but her legs began to split a bit and she eeped. He grinned and began coaching her, and after a few practice runs back and forth they started out down the mountain. Amanda didn't fall even once, though she swayed from side to side. Kurt flew down the mountain like the blue snow devil he was, and was waiting for her at certain points, as she followed more slowly.  
  
When they both reached the bottom, Kurt was a bit more drenched from spewing snow to each side as he'd cut down the mountain, and Amanda was a bit out of breath from concentrating so hard.  
  
"So, up for another?" He grinned widely at her.  
  
She laughed, shook her head, and nodded. "Sure, why not.. But this time we stick together."  
  
His eyes twinkled more. "Of course!"  
  
They rode up once more, and upon reaching the summit, Kurt turned to Amanda and winked. "How about a ride?"  
  
She giggled and jumped on his back, skis oddly sticking out on each side, and together they sped off down the slope.  
  
Two pairs of eyes watched them as they sped down the slopes, carefree and happy.  
  
"There are no other people in the vicinity, now is a perfect time."  
  
"Yes, but what about the other?"  
  
"Unnecessary. Dispose of the other."  
  
"It could prove useful to have another specimen, even if it isn't what we're after."  
  
"Very well. Team three, move out."  
  
Kurt grinned with the thrill of speed as they rocketed down the hill. Amanda was hugging him tightly, screeching a bit for him to slow down. He just laughed. "Trust me!"  
  
Suddenly out of nowhere, he felt something stinging hit him in the leg. He thought it had just been a spare rock for a moment, those kind of things happened, but then his leg began to numb and he realized that something was wrong. He jerked to a stop just outside a grove of trees off the main part of the slope, and grunted as he began to feel shaky.  
  
Amanda slid off looking concerned. "What's wrong Kurt?" She bent down and her eyes widened, as she pulled a small dart out of his leg. "Oh god.." But her phrase was cut short, as something whizzed through the air, and struck her in the arm.  
  
Kurt gasped and lunged for her, but his limbs didn't seem to want to work and he flopped uselessly in the snow, cursing his metabolism for allowing the drugs to act too fast. he couldn't even think straight enough to teleport them out.they could end..up. in...a..  
  
Amanda watched with some horror as Kurt slipped into unconsciousness. She was beginning to feel a numbness herself, and she fought to pick Kurt up, thinking if she could get to the bottom before the drug incapacitated her as well. but then out of the trees stepped three figures in armor, white cloaks over their backs of some military make, helping them to blend into their surroundings. She collapsed to her knees, protectively besides Kurt. "Who..are you..what do you want." Her voice quavered a bit, thinking of all the horrible things that could be done to her boyfriend if these men were after them.  
  
One stepped forward, and surprised Amanda when SHE spoke up. "Just don't fight it girl, there's nothing you can do." Her smirk was the last thing Amanda saw before blackness overwhelmed her.  
  
***  
  
Margali was pacing back and forth anxiously from the hotel room overlooking the resort. "They should have been back here hours ago." She stated, sounding frustrated and worried. "you don't suppose they had an accident?" She glanced at her husband with worry.  
  
"I can't imagine.. Kurt seems to be an expert skier.and Amanda can take care of herself if something happened." He looked back down at his paper. "They've probably just lost track of time. They'll come back when they're hungry."  
  
Margali frowned..there was something not right..it was nearly dark, and the two hadn't come back for lunch, and given what Amanda had told her of Kurt's needs, missing a meal was highly irregular.  
  
She turned back and stared out across the snow...a bad feeling knowing at her inside.  
  
Author's Note: Mwhahaa...I love cliffhangers..who are these strange militants who kidnapped Kurt and Amanda? What do they want? Who do they want? Whatever you may conceive, I assure you it's not what you think... 


	10. Kidnapped

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: I got requests to continue this ^_^ I've been putting it off cause I ran dry of ideas, but I came up with one in the shower last night, so here you go, per request Melissa.  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Ten Kidnapped By: NightElfCrawler  
  
The first thing Kurt was aware of, was cold stone ground beneath him, and a tremendous headache...He groaned, and slowly opened his eyes. He saw through blurry vision that he was laying in some kind of room, poorly lit, made of cold white stone. He tried to lift his head, which set on a huge reeling of the room and pounding at his temples. He groaned and then rolled over onto his back. There was a single florescent light over the aisle just outside of his cell, and indeed it was a cell, a single door with a small window at the tope revealed there was no doorknob for him to use.  
  
Fighting the headache, he slowly sat up, his head swimming, and leaned against a small metal bunk built into the side of the wall, that had a starch white mattress with sheets and blankets. At least his captors were considerate. there was also a sink and facilities off to the side. He slowly stood up, while leaning on the bunk, allowing his limbs to stop tingling. After a good ten minutes, he felt well enough to stand up, and he briefly glanced down, enough to see he was still in his ski clothing, watch still active. He peered out of the window, revealing there were many other rooms lining the hallway from his vantage point. No one was about.  
  
He sighed, and slowly stood down from his tip toes, and began to examine the room. It was well built, no cracks or apparent weak places. However, he didn't need that. He glanced out the window again. He could just port out of here anytime.. But he had to know some things first.. Where was Amanda? And where were they? Why had they been captured?  
  
He could only devise that, someone, had discovered who he was, and what he looked like, and wanted to examine him. but then they would have known about the watch wouldn't they? They had left it on, which either indicated they didn't care if he wore it or not, or they didn't know, and they had been captured for some other purpose.  
  
He sighed and sat down on the bed, his hands cradling his head in confusion. A thought struck him. He pushed a button on his watch, and a red light began to beep slightly. He was outside of any range for communication, but luckily the professor had built in a homing beacon into the watch, in case he A: lost it, or B: needed to be found. He only hoped there wasn't some dampening field keeping the signal from getting out.  
  
He had to force his panic down. He had possessed nightmares of this happening all his life, being captured and experimented on. Now that he had been captured, he felt much calmer than he thought he might have in the given situation. Perhaps it was because Amanda was in danger too, wherever she was. She was his one sane link in this situation, and if he kept his calm in order to help her, all would be fine.  
  
His thoughts were broken when the door made a noise, and he glanced up in time to see it open. He jumped up, instantly on his guard to teleport out if necessary. His eyes examined the women, as they entered. One was tall and blonde, a thick braid falling down her back. Another dark haired and dark skinned woman with frizzy hair followed, and the third was a woman of shorter stature, muscular, and long brown hair. He watched them warily as they closed the doors behind them and examined him.  
  
Finally the tall blonde spoke up. "Tell us what you know."  
  
He blinked, and still watched them warily. "Know about what..?"  
  
"Don't play the fool with us boy, we have no time for it." She folded her arms and looked cross. "From what we've managed to extract from her, you've known each other for several months now."  
  
He blinked, taken by surprise. They were asking about Amanda? Why? He suddenly became wary of his answers, out of need to protect her. "Ja." He said slowly. "Ve met at school.but I don't see what you vant to know..."  
  
The blonde narrowed her blue eyes and gave him a cold look. "Has she tapped into her abilities any? You would have noticed. Her mother, how long have you known her, where is she. Why are they hiding in America and not resuming their proper titles?"  
  
Kurt blinked as the questions were thrown at him so fast he couldn't answer. What did this have to do with Amanda? What was going on? He couldn't answer anything, and just stood there flustered.  
  
The dark haired woman spoke up quietly. "It doesn't appear he knows about her."  
  
The blonde raised an eyebrow and then an amused smile tugged at her lips. "indeed.. Tell me boy, what is your girlfriend's name?"  
  
He frowned. "You must know it..."  
  
"Oh yes, but I want to hear it from you."  
  
He frowned more, his tail twitching around his waist, anxious to be out. "Amanda." He said slowly. "Amanda Sefton...why?"  
  
The blonde's eyes looked , if possible, even colder. "Because. That is not her real name."  
  
Kurt's eyes widened and he swallowed in fear. Something felt wrong about this... "Wh.what do you mean?" His voice shook audibly, causing the three women to all smile darkly.  
  
"Well it's quite simple really. the girl whom you knew as Amanda Sefton, is not who she appears to be." The blonde smiled darkly. "Come. we will show you."  
  
Kurt swallowed uncertainly. He was confused. It seemed now that these women had been after Amanda this whole time..but what could she possibly be hiding from him? He was afraid to even speculate on it. However, he wouldn't learn a thing if he remained here, so he dutifully followed the brown haired woman out of the room, while the other two flanked behind him. They seemed casual, as if they knew he was not a threat to them. He wondered if he could use this later to his advantage.  
  
They led him down the corridors, and he kept in mind the directions they were heading, able to remember with accuracy due to his uncanny sense of direction. After a bit, they came to a large observation room. The women gestured for him to look. The blonde smirked. "Go on, meet who Amanda Sefton truly is."  
  
Kurt eyed them warily, then slowly crept forward to the glass, and peered down on the room below. Strapped to the chair was a girl, who looked nothing like Amanda in the slightest. She had been stripped down to her long underwear, and her skin was very fair. She had long blonde hair that cascaded down her back and ended in curls. Her eyes were closed, and from what he could see, she appeared exhausted, but she wasn't Amanda... He turned around, looking a bit angry. "Is this some kind of a joke? That's not Amanda."  
  
The blonde looked even more amused. "Isn't it now? Why don't we let him speak to her.."  
  
The brunette frowned. "Is that a good idea?"  
  
"Oh for Pete's sake, he can't help her escape, what harm will it do?"  
  
"True. all right then, let him in."  
  
Kurt was roughly grabbed by the arm, luckily he still had his long sleeves on, and pulled down the hallway, and then roughly pushed through a door into a room. The door slammed behind him with an ominous thud. Kurt glanced up, seeing he couldn't determine where the glass was, the whole ceiling was reflective. He slowly walked across the room to the chair where the girl was. He stood there silently for a bit, studying her face. It did bear an uncanny resemblance..  
  
She stirred, and her eyes opened slightly, revealing intense blue eyes, blearily staring up at the ceiling. Soon enough though, she noticed him there, and glanced over. A smile fell on her lips and her voice was weak, but that of a stranger as well. "Kurt..they didn't hurt you..good."  
  
Kurt blinked, and tried hard not to sound overly suspicious. "They're.. Telling me strange things about you."  
  
Her eyes tried to focus on him, looking slightly confused. "Strange..?" Her eyes seemed to suddenly realize what he was getting at, and turned sad. "Oh.they told you about that.." Her eyes closed briefly then opened looking at him with a pained expression. "Please understand Kurt..I couldn't let anyone know.even you..we had to protect ourselves.."  
  
He blinked, confusion evident on his face. "What? Let me know what? All I know is that they're telling me that. that YOU." He sounded exasperated. ".are my Amanda..but..you aren't anything like her!"  
  
She blinked, then glanced down, and took a good look at herself. Then, realization hit, and she sighed. "I'm so sorry Kurt..I didn't mean to lie to you...honest.but I had to.." Her voice shook, and her eyes opened. "How can I prove it to you, fuzzy, that I really am the same person that you've grown to love..?"  
  
He bit his lip, his hidden tail twitching as she called him fuzzy. But he wasn't convinced. This wasn't his Amanda. it couldn't be.. "I..how did we first meet." He decided something easy.  
  
She smiled again. "I asked you out..after math class. you were shy, but said yes.to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance..we went, and had a wonderful time, before those weird monster things attacked. you bamfed me out, and we talked, and that's when you showed me your true self, though I had seen you the week before by accident when you were arguing with Rogue.."  
  
Tears sprung to his eyes. There wasn't any way that anyone else could know about all of those details.. "Amanda." he breathed, voice shaking. "It really is you..but.why.do you look like this.."  
  
She continued to look at him with sad eyes. "It's a long story fuzzy..but in short, it was to hide from them." Her eyes flicked ceiling ward. ".that me and my mother had to hide, and change our appearances."  
  
He closed his eyes, putting a hand to his head. His thoughts were swirling, wondering how and why this could be possible. He glanced back up at her. "It doesn't matter to me what you look like." He finally said, smiling teasingly. "You're still beautiful to me."  
  
A wry smile plucked at her features, and then a thought crossed her face. "do they know about..you?"  
  
He shook his head slowly, not sure if they were being monitored or not. "I think I vas just in the wrong place at the wrong time.."  
  
She nodded slightly, here eyes sharp. "Keep your eyes peeled. We have to get out of here quick when we can." Her eyes looked painful. "If you have to, get out yourself, leave me." He started to protest and she interrupted him. "Find my mother and get her help."  
  
The door slammed open and the blonde stood there. "time's up kid. Come on."  
  
Kurt sighed, but glanced back at the strange looking Amanda, and she gave him a comforting smile. He then turned and followed blondie out of there. Thoughts were running through his mind in pandemonium. Who was Amanda really.what was this all about.. As he was lead back to his cell, he finally asked the one question that had been bothering him. Glancing up at blondie, he spoke up quietly. "If her real name isn't Amanda. then who is she?"  
  
The blonde woman just smirked, and opened the door, shoving him in. He turned, and she paused long enough at the door to answer him.  
  
"Jimaine Szardos."  
  
He stood there in stunned silence, as the door slammed shut on him.  
  
Szardos...he knew that name all too well..  
  
Suddenly, all the nagging points in his mind came together. 


	11. Hidden Identities

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: I got requests to continue this ^_^ I've been putting it off cause I ran dry of ideas, but I came up with one in the shower last night, so here you go, per request Melissa.  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Eleven Hidden Identities By: NightElfCrawler  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Yes, Professor Xavier please?"  
  
"Just a moment! (HEY PROFESSOR, PHOOOONE)"  
  
"Ahem, yes, Xavier speaking?"  
  
"Hello, this is Margali Sefton..Amanda's mother?"  
  
"Ah yes, how was the ski trip Mrs. Sefton?"  
  
"Well..I have some bad news..Amanda and Kurt are.missing."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Missing? Tell me what happened."  
  
"Well, they went off skiing and didn't return, we've had the ski patrol looking for them, but..given the circumstances."  
  
"I understand, we'll be right on it immediately and join you up there shortly Mrs. Sefton. Please don't worry."  
  
Xavier hung the phone up and sighed quietly. A relaxing vacation gone wrong..What trouble had Kurt gotten them into now? He honestly hoped the young lad was smart enough to remember his homing beacon. Xavier wheeled down the hall and into Cerebro, and punched up a code, and centered it on the region the kids had been last. The area was silent, but given Kurt's teleportation they could go a further distance. He expanded the search, running a check for the beacon. Unfortunately he found nothing. He took the helmet off and set it down with a sigh.  
  
Hank came sauntering in from behind. "I heard there was a problem."  
  
Charles looked up at his friend. "Kurt and Amanda Sefton have gone missing on their ski trip."  
  
"Oh dear." Hank said with heartfelt meaning. "Have you located them?"  
  
"No, unfortunately they're nowhere in the area.."  
  
"Foul play perhaps?"  
  
"Perhaps.."  
  
"Why don't you try running a search on his mutant pattern. It could be his watch is dysfunctional."  
  
"Ah, yes of course." Charles punched up a few more buttons and concentrated the area again, and a red dot suddenly lit up from the center of the mountain that the skiers used. "Ah it seems he is there after all."  
  
"Either his watch is broken, or there is some other reason we cannot locate him." Hank mused. "The signal is coming from inside the mountain."  
  
"I would make an assumption that they have been taken against their will." Charles said solemnly. "And we will act accordingly. Assemble the X-men left in the manor, for a rescue mission."  
  
Hank nodded, and instantly was off. Within minutes, Beast, Rogue, Amara, and the Professor were all at the X-jet, ready for departure. "As you may know, Kurt and Amanda Sefton have disappeared while skiing. We were able to locate them, inside the mountain. This may mean they have fallen down a crevice and are injured, or they have been abducted. We are going to meet with the Seftons first, then start a search party. I want all of you to work your best, and be careful."  
  
"Hmmf.. leave it to that stupid peasant to get himself in trouble." Amara snorted with indignation.  
  
Everyone gave a small collective sigh, or eye roll, and they entered the Jet and took off.  
  
Margali watched as the group of students and professors walked through the snow, towards the resort. She closed the drapes and turned to her husband, who was pacing the floor anxiously. "I am certain we will find them, dear." She soothed, feeling frustration rising up inside. She never should have let Amanda close to that treacherous..boy. She fumed mentally at herself. She had agreed to let her get close, to find out the truth, on the condition that if he did anything wrong at all, she would step in. This definitely was in the category of taking matters into her own hands.. And here she had been believing the boy was innocent after all. She glanced at her 'husband' who of course knew nothing about this. To him, Amanda and herself were his family, she had married him and bore their child. but it was a complex spell to delude him, so she and Amanda could hide. Margali had never anticipate running into the boy herself, or she would have taken more precautions, but Amanda had confronted her and insisted that Kurt could never have done such horrible deeds, and for her to see herself. She had begrudgingly agreed, and played the part of the surprised mother.  
  
She growled softly and turned, putting on a worried face as the door was knocked upon. She walked over and smiled sadly as the X-men arrived. "Please, come in..we are very upset."  
  
The group entered, and Mr. Sefton politely offered coffee, with a shaking voice. Margali leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Normally should be able to sense her daughter.. But she couldn't..that made her more than worried..  
  
"This is what we will do." Professor Xavier was speaking up. "We'll start a search party, I will remain in the jet for coordination and communication. The moment we find anything out, we'll let you know."  
  
Mr. Sefton nodded tiredly. "yes. thank you.."  
  
"I'd like to go with you." Margali interrupted. The X-men had surprised expressions. "It would give me more reassurance." She added.  
  
Xavier nodded somewhat. "I understand. Very well then, we will set off immediately."  
  
***  
  
Szardos..  
  
His whole blood run cold hearing that name again. But it wasn't Amanda, or Jimaine, that instilled that fear in him...it was the fact that he hadn't realized before, than had only twitched in his memory...  
  
He held his head in his hands, as memories that he wished could stay buried, surfaced to his thoughts, pounding him with their backwash...  
  
He didn't want to believe it.. He had grown up knowing Jimaine.knowing Margali...knowing...  
  
The reality of everything hit him. They had pretended to be someone else. probably to get close to him...what would she have done eventually? Would she have killed him?  
  
He closed his eyes, and images flashed before his eyes.  
  
*** "Hurry up Kurt!" the laughing gypsy girl cried out as she scrambled up the hill. Kurt was bounding up behind her on all fours laughing just as hard as she.  
  
"I'm going to get you!" He caught up with her, and they went into a rolling heap, giggling and carefree.  
  
Their laughter could be heard echoing in the vacant canyons below where only sheep roamed.  
  
It was carefree, being young children, and they were sheltered from the cruelty of the world. Kurt, not allowed to go into town, and Jimaine, a gypsy child, was not welcome in the town. Together they had discovered friendship through each other, and he spent many hours with her at the camps, and she with him at his cozy home.  
  
***  
  
It was a cold dark night, rain threatening to release. Yet the mood inside was worse. "AHHHHHCHOOOO!!!"  
  
"Gezundheit."  
  
"Danke .."  
  
"Aww. poor fuzzy." Her hand petted his head and he grinned stuffily at her through the cold. "I haven't seen you ever get sick like this."  
  
"Well.it hits be really harb." He managed to croak out through sore throat and stuffed nose.  
  
"Well don't worry. Mamma said I can stay here with you as long as you want."  
  
*** Rain slashed down with lightening as he ran, the shouts of angry voices not far behind him. He cried out in pain as he landed on his bad leg the wrong way again, and tumbled down an embankment into a rushing stream of icy water. He gasped for breath and scrambled up desperately trying to evade his pursuers.  
  
"Psssst!!!"  
  
He froze, and was almost afraid to turn around, but then he saw the familiar flashing of golden trinkets. "Jimaine!" He hissed back and limped over to her.  
  
"Good god. come on, hide here.." She pulled him into the concealed hole just in the embankment, behind some vines. No one not looking for it would spot it. Together they crouched there as footsteps splashed in the water, angry shouts passed by, and it grew quiet as the pounding rain once more.  
  
*** Kurt's head jerked up, and he blinked blearily through the dim light for a moment before remembering where he was. He must have fallen asleep. He sighed and slowly sat up on the bed and glanced around his small cell. He ran a hand through his hair, and suddenly realized what had woken him. A soft beeping was coming from his watch, with a red light. He groaned internally. The battery was low. He searched his pockets for the spare watch he had taken with him, and had to rummage a bit, fumbling with zippers before he pulled it out. He pushed the 'on' button, and it went on for a moment, then with a 'fizz' it turned off again. He shook it, and heard some sloshing. He sighed again. Some snow must have gotten into that pocket, melted and gotten into the gears.  
  
He sat down again, anxiously. If he stayed here, the battery would run out, and they would find out what he was anyway. If he left, they may find him sooner...But he couldn't just leave Amanda. Jimaine.. there. Even if the consequences meant facing up to his past, he had to help her and they had to escape. He stood up, pacing once more. He couldn't rely on the X-men coming anymore, even if they had located them and were trying, he only had a few minutes before the battery gave out entirely.  
  
He made his decision.  
  
He peered out the door, and flipped the watch off, just in case he needed the tiny bit of power for something later. No one was in the hall, so he ported out into the hallway, and then began running down the corridor, his hands and feet falling softly on the metal floor. He ran silently down the corridor, his ears kept perked for any noise that showed someone was heading his way. He finally stopped, before the door that led to the room they had been keeping Ama-.Jimaine. He glanced around. It was sure to have a lock, and cameras. If he simply ported in without being careful, they would probably stop them before they escaped. He glanced around, and spotted a storage closet. He quickly walked over, and opened it. It contained some basic cleaning things, disinfectant, mops, buckets.. He glanced up, and spotted what he'd been looking for. An air vent.  
  
He closed the door after him, smartly, though there was no light in there, he could see fine. He tore his gloves off, and climbed up the side of the wall, and stood there, his feet gripping tightly, his tail holding onto the bar used to hang rags to keep balance. He carefully tried pulling the grate. It was screwed in with two large bolts on either side. He glanced around, and as luck would have it, a toolbox lay on the floor, he crept down and rummaged, and quickly found the right size screwdriver that would work. He climbed back up and began working the screws loose. They were tough to get out, slightly rusted and very filthy from being there since the installation. After working them some long tense minutes, hoping no one heard the squeaking, they came out, and he took the grate, and tugged. It came free with a clunk, and he held his breath, but heard no voices or footsteps, and gently put it down on the floor. He then took a breath, and eyed the grate. It was pretty narrow, he wouldn't be able to turn around, but since he had a small frame, he could fit, if he removed his bulky jacket. He sighed regretting having to abandon it, it was a nice jacket, but oh well. He tore it off, and climbed into the shaft wearing only his turtleneck and ski pants. He took time to acclimate to the small space, then thought it might be better if he left no evidence of where he had gone. He crept back, grabbed the jacket and pulled it up with him, then using his tail, gripped the grate, and backed up, and hauled the grate with him. He put it back in place, and hoped no one would notice the missing screws. He then shoved the jacket down another passage, and began crawling on his stomach through the dusty ducts, towards the other room.  
  
His breath threw up plums of dust into his lungs, and he had to resist the urge to cough, since any sound would be amplified to anywhere the ducts led to. He headed as quiet as he possibly could down the duct, until he reached another grate. He slowly crept forward, and peered in. He could see quite clearly, the layout of the room. Jimaine was strapped to the chair, still in the center of the room, the three other women surrounding her. He could hear their voices quite clearly from his vantage point.  
  
"So.. That's what you have been up to..pathetic..such a potential in you, wasted because you have such.useless ideas."  
  
"Why not control him and find out yourself?"  
  
"Exactly..you have the power, and your mother did teach you most of her own knowledge. You could be far greater than you are. instead, you're hiding pretending to be 'human'."  
  
"What is the point?"  
  
"Why even bother asking her. let's just do this and get it over with."  
  
"Agreed. Come on, we'll prepare the solutions. someone go check on the boy.we have no more need for him, dispose of him."  
  
"Right.." footsteps sounded off, and the thud of a door hit, and Kurt carefully peered in, seeing they all had left the room. He glanced around quickly, and saw the cameras mounted on the ceiling in a circular pattern, so no area of the room was uncovered. except the ceiling of course. who would watch that?  
  
He quietly tried pulling the grate out, but it too was adhered, so he did the faster thing. *bamf* He appeared on the other side, clinging to the ceiling still. He glanced down, and saw Jimaine's head stir, at hearing the familiar sound. He slowly crept across the ceiling to the camera nearest, and crossed his fingers that they wouldn't notice quick enough for him to finish the task. He bamfed around the room, disconnecting each cable to each camera, until they were all unhooked, and then jumped down, landing beside her chair with a silent pat.  
  
Her eyes opened, and she smiled distantly at seeing him. "Kurt..knew.'d come."  
  
He sighed quietly, watching her. He felt conflict well up inside of him, seeing her face again. "I have so many questions. but they have to wait.. We must get out of here first." He grabbed the leather buckles and snapped them off quickly, and then helped her up. She was shaking with the effort, so he had to support holding her. He glanced worried at her. "Do you think you'll be able to walk? Or manage to take the trip out of here?" He asked, knowing teleporting with her could have serious consequences if she was weak.  
  
She smiled tightly. "If we don't, they'll kill us anyway.. Risk it."  
  
He nodded once, and squeezed her hand. "Ok.. hold on then."  
  
He ported them back to the safest place he could think of where they could coordinate without being caught. the utility closet. When they arrived, Jimaine groaned slightly, and slumped down looking very pale. He knelt by her and apologized again, then stood up, and listened at the door. He could hear nothing, so slowly opened it a peek. There was no one there in either direction, and no sounds. He closed it again and whispered just to be safe.  
  
"Do you know the way out of here?" She shook her head dully as she gasped for air. He sighed a bit and chewed on his lip. "Well, we can do a couple things. either I can snoop around and see if I can find a way out, or we can go together..either way there's risk..if I go alone I can probably escape faster, and port more. but I'll have to come back for you and that means leaving you alone. If you come we could find it together, but get caught.."  
  
She glanced up at him, her eyes looking a bit foggy. "Go.find the way out.. I'll be fine."  
  
He frowned in thought, wondering if that was the smartest thing, when suddenly, there was a huge explosion just outside their door, that sent both flying back into the far wall of the closet from it's backwash.. 


	12. Rescue

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: Um. nothing to note ^_^  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Twelve Rescue By: NightElfCrawler  
  
Rogue glanced around the snowy mountain and let out a huge sigh. "How in the hell are we supposed to FIND anything here?" she grumbled aloud.  
  
Magma snorted beside her. "Don't ask me.. this is WAY too cold...brr." she shivered and threw an angry glance at the sky. "Don't the Gods and Goddesses KNOW such places are not for royal feet to set foot on!?"  
  
Rogue put a hand to her head. "Spare me."  
  
"Come on you two, stop chit chatting and lets' find the entrance." Beast lumbered up behind them and gently prodded the two x-men along. "Now look hard, it could be buried in snow."  
  
"Tha Professor said it was SOMEWHERE around here." Rogue growled. "But then wha don't we see it?" She gestured. "There's nuthin here but rock n snow n trees.."  
  
Beast folded his hairy arms. "Would you rather our companions stay contained?"  
  
She scowled. "No, Ah'm just sayin."  
  
"Then I suggest we get going. It will be getting light soon, and skiers wont' want to run into us, I wager."  
  
"You mean you." Magma said haughtily. "You're something that would frighten the wits out of anyone."  
  
Beast sighed softly. "True enough, but the point remains. back to work." He turned and eyed the rock formation they were standing in front of. "The source of metal Charles was able to track came from behind that rock formation.therefore there must be a concealed entrance."  
  
"Pretty well concealed, Ah'd say." Rogue stomped up through the snow and smacked her hand against the wall a few times.  
  
Magma lit up a ball of fire in her hand, having some difficulty. This incredibly cold weather made her powers harder to manifest. "I shall just blast it."  
  
"I'm not sure that's such a prudent." Beast began to say and blinked as Magma launched a fireball at the rock, with Rogue throwing herself aside. The whole rock face seemed to shudder and explode, and as they dove for cover and looked up, they saw a gaping hole, with a corridor visible in it. "Er..I suppose that works..but they must know we're here now." Beast said, picking himself up from the snow. "Let us move quickly and find them."  
  
The three climbed up into the hole, and found a metal corridor, littered with debris, lights flickering due to Magma's actions. Beast felt the rock just outside the hole thoughtfully. "Hmmm as I suspected. This is not Granite..it is plastic."  
  
"Plastic?" Rogue blinked, looking like she wanted to laugh. "Thay made a mountain outta plastic?"  
  
"Well otherwise, I doubt that Magma's fireball would have caused such a devastating effect." Beast explained turning back to the girls. "After all, rock is fairly immune to fire, unless she were to melt it with incredibly high heat, and given the cold climate she cannot do that."  
  
Inside the storage closet, a very still Kurt and Jimaine listened to the conversation outside. It took some listening, for it to finally kick into Kurt's brain who was out there. "Come on!" He helped her up, and then pushed on the door. After some shoving, it finally broke open, some of the metal having warped from the explosion. They staggered into the flickering corridor, and coughed a bit from the residual smoke.  
  
"Kurt!" Rogue ran forward seeing him and glanced back and forth, to see if anyone was coming yet. "You ok? Where's Amanda?"  
  
Kurt looked up and glanced briefly down at Jimaine, and sighed. "It's a long story, but this is Amanda. or.rather, Amanda was her." He read the confusion on the three X-men's faces, and shook his head. "I'll explain later, let's get out of here now." He handed Jimaine over to Beast, who was offering to hold the girl, and together they leapt out of the hole, just as shouts and voices began to sound from either side of the corridor. Kurt winced as his feet hit the cold snow. He had ditched his boots back in the cell, for obvious reasons. He got down on all fours, and began running down the mountain, with the others. His thoughts were still mussed together in confusion. He wanted to just find a quiet place to curl up and think, but he knew he couldn't afford that, and wouldn't be given it, if Margali had anything to do with it.  
  
Rogue trotted up beside him. "So. you ok?" She asked, concern in her voice.  
  
He threw a tight grin back at her. "Ja.they ignored me..."  
  
Rogue blinked in surprise. "Ignored ya?"  
  
"Ja." He answered as they headed towards the jet that was concealed not far ahead in a glade. "I wasn't the one they wanted."  
  
Rogue seemed to consider that. "But wha would they want Amanda? Ah mean, she's just a normal girl!"  
  
Kurt glanced at her and looked away, suddenly having guilt flood through him. "No. she's not."  
  
Rogue gave him an odd look, but didn't press it. They all boarded into the jet, and just as the door closed, the sounds of bullets ricocheting off other hull pinged loudly. But, the jet was made soundly, and it lifted off without a hitch, and they were headed back down the mountain.  
  
Rogue and Kurt were tending to Jimaine, who had passed out. Neither of them was quite sure what had been done to her, and why she was out cold.  
  
Rogue glanced over at Kurt, noticing that he seemed rather subdued. "Hey gloomy.ya sure you're not hurt at all?"  
  
He nodded and sat down in the seat beside Jimaine. "Ja..They didn't touch me."  
  
Rogue put a damp cloth to the girl's head. "So. this is Amanda? Ya sure?" She looked doubtful. "Thay don't look anything alike."  
  
He sighed quietly. "It's a long story.." He glanced up at her, eyes glazed over a bit. "And a .painful one."  
  
Rogue frowned, and sat down beside him. "Ya wanna talk about it?"  
  
He shook his head. "I'm not sure..how much time do we have..."  
  
She sighed. "Not much, we're probably gonna go pick up the rest at the hotel then head back.." She saw his flinch. "Wha?"  
  
He shuddered faintly then looked up at her. "Promise me something?" She looked confused but nodded. He gulped. "Make sure Margali doesn't kill me."  
  
"Kill you?" Rogue looked stunned. "Wha would she wanna kill ya?"  
  
His gaze switched to studying the floor. "Long story..but she would try..especially if she thought I hurt her daughter.."  
  
Rogue scratched her head a bit but nodded. "No one will hurt ya, the proff wouldn't let em.."  
  
He smiled tightly but didn't look reassured.  
  
The jet set down, and Beast stood up. "All right, stay here while Amara goes and gets Charles and Amanda's parents... move her to the medical bed in the back now." He directed of Kurt and Rogue. Kurt nodded, and took Jimaine's shoulders and Rogue grabbed her booted feet, and together they lifted her to the bed. Beast then set about hooking up an IV and monitors. The two watched in silence beside him as he worked, and finally glanced back up. "Well, she's very weak..It seems whatever was done to her I cannot determine, but it did weaken her quite a bit." He glanced up at Kurt, a quizzical look. "Why does she look like this again?"  
  
Kurt was about to answer, when footsteps sounded behind them and a hysterical voice. "My darling!? Where is she!?" They all turned as Margali shoved past any in her way and knelt down at the bedside. She stroked her daughters' hand for a moment, then suddenly stood up, and power suddenly seemed to crackle around her.  
  
Everyone backed up instinctively, and Rogue glanced at Kurt suddenly understanding why he was so alarmed. Kurt was keeping his ground, a look on his face that showed he knew what was about to happen.  
  
Margali turned, and it was then that everyone realized there was much more to her than they had thought. As she turned, her eyes were glowing intensely, and her face seemed to twist in intense rage and anger. With a sudden 'boom' everyone was thrown back against the hull of the jet, except for Kurt, who remained standing, quaking, in front of her. She reached out and grabbed him by the throat, her hair flaring out around her wildly. He didn't struggle, but just stood there immobile as she threatened to cut off his air.  
  
She finally spoke, her voice dark and dangerous. "I have put up with you long enough..if only my daughter had allowed me to dispose of you when your treachery was first known, I would not have her in this situation now...I will take care of what should have been done before now."  
  
Kurt hadn't made a move to escape, despite his teleporting skills. He just was motionless as she towered over him. The others were trying to move to stop her, but the massive power she wielded was keeping them held against the walls immobile.  
  
"Mother..stop." Came a soft quiet voice from behind Margali, causing her to glance back. Jimaine was sitting up, weakly, but firmly. "Let him go."  
  
Margali seemed to become more angry at that. "Why do you continue to defend him!?" She hissed. "You KNOW what he did!!"  
  
Jimaine stood up, seeming to regain some of her strength. "NO!" she paused, taking a breath. "No..If he did it, he had a good reason. I've learned so much from him.We were captured by the Hunters mother." She watched her mother's frightened expression for a moment then continued. "They didn't know about him..they ignored him..he could have escaped at any time using his power. but he came for me. even after finding out who I really was. he still came for me, and saved me.He must have known what would happen once we got back here and faced you. but still he came." Her voice hardened. "He is a good person. I won't let you kill him."  
  
Margali seemed shaken by her daughter's statement, and glanced down at the silent Kurt, who was just standing there, trying his best to breath with her tight grip, not saying a word in his defense. "You." She finally hissed, with half the lethal intent in her voice. "Explain."  
  
Kurt just raised his eyes up, then down. "I can't."  
  
"Why." He said nothing. "Why!?" She yelled louder. "You have not ever denied my accusations!? Tell me the truth now! We shall end this! Did you kill my son!!??"  
  
Everyone in the jet seemed to draw a breath together hearing that accusation. They wanted to ask questions, they wanted to deny it. Kurt wasn't that kind of person, he was incapable of killing anyone..wasn't he? The tension was too high for comment, however, and the jet remained deathly silent as the confrontation between the two continued.  
  
Kurt didn't seem to want to meet her eyes, and they could see darkening spots on his fur, tears. Finally he lifted his head, and met her eyes, tears spilling down. "Yes.." His voice was barely louder than a whisper. "I killed him."  
  
The silence that echoed in the jet was even more dense than before.  
  
Margali's rage, seemed to amplify, then dwindle a bit, and extreme sadness overcame her wild features. "Why...why did you kill him."  
  
Kurt remained silent, and didn't look back up.  
  
Professor Xavier, finally came forward, since the pressure keeping them away had vanished. He held a hand up. "Please Mrs. Sefton." He said in that quiet calm way he had. "Allow me to help with this..."  
  
Margali glanced at the telepath then nodded once, and released her grip on Kurt, who fell a good five feet after being released, and landed rather unsteadily on his feet.  
  
Xavier didn't wait for him to get up, but put a cool hand to the boy's head, and concentrated, expanding the field to a visual spectrum, portraying Kurt's memories for all to see....  
  
Violating his mind.. 


	13. The Pastthe Truth

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: So, lots of fics have been written about Kurt's past..I'm trying not to mimic any of them, and all of them at once given inspiration..goes from reading too much fanfiction I guess. But if any of it is too close to a fic someone else wrote, my apologies, it's not intentional.  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Thirteen The Past..the Truth By: NightElfCrawler  
  
The images began to pull everyone in at once. Flashing by at the speed of light, Xavier searched for the ones that were related..He slowed as he felt Kurt guide him to the beginning events that started the end result in motion...and this is what followed...  
  
It was late one afternoon, and the sun was just setting between the mountains, casting an orange glow over the quiet town. Two boys were sitting on the side of the green hills above the gypsies camp, watching it.  
  
"Beautiful isn't it.."  
  
"Yes.."  
  
"I can't imagine that God would make more of a perfect scene in the world..."  
  
"Mmm.I'm sure there are others that rival it."  
  
"Hmm I don't think so." The dark haired boy turned, facing his blue friend. "Tell me something..what is your worst fear, Kurt?"  
  
The blue furred youth sat up, propping up on his elbow to face the other. "Well...I have many.."  
  
"What's one that sticks out most?"  
  
"Probably..thinking that one day, I might be all alone..with no one who cares.. Because of the way I am.."  
  
"A demon?"  
  
Kurt's head jerked up, and his intense eyes stared at his friend with a shocked intensity. "What!?"  
  
He held his hands up quickly. "Hey, easy there. I was just saying.. Do you fear the fact that when other people see you, they see a demon?"  
  
Kurt bit his lip. "That's. part of it, yes." He glanced up at Stefan with an odd look. "Why?"  
  
The gypsies boy shrugged and flopped back down. "Just askin.."  
  
*** "Mein Gott.not again."  
  
"This is the third one this week.."  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"Upstairs, asleep I think."  
  
"Are you sure? I mean it couldn't possibly.."  
  
"No! Of course not..he's never harmed a soul, he's an innocent in this.."  
  
Kurt was curled up at the top of the stairs, listening to his parents whispered words, as they obviously hadn't wanted to wake him..but he hadn't been able to sleep, and had intended to get a glass of water, but overheard his name and paused. Now he wished that he hadn't...  
  
The murders had been going on for months now..It started with one, and that was it. then another. followed by two more. The town knew they had a serial killer loose, and naturally their accusing eyes had gone to him. He had been forced to stay inside, and not step foot even outside of the door, for fear that his life might be in jeopardy. Each time it happened, more whispers and rumors flew..it had started with an old beggar who no one had really cared about...they were nearly glad to find him dead, but that was before they found out how he had died..his guts had been extracted, and mixed into some kind of concoction.and spread over his back in a pagan symbol..the devil..he had of course been on his back, and his belongings draped over him, so they hadn't noticed immediately, they believed at first that he had died of natural causes.  
  
That wasn't the case.  
  
The following week, it was a young boy...  
  
Then a pregnant woman...  
  
A young innocent girl only 6...  
  
It went on and on..there was no pattern, only to know that each of these people had been very devout in their faith, and therefore upstanding citizens.  
  
The assumption had been of course, who else would paint the devil's sign, but the one who looked like the demon. never mind the fact that he had never done a thing wrong, and had been as devout as the rest, despite them not wanting him around when worshiping..the pastor luckily had been an understanding man, and allowed him to sit in the rafters, and would occasionally throw a special smile of understanding up at him during his sermons.  
  
Kurt sighed softly as he listened to them talk. Another murder..and no one had even been investigated besides himself..  
  
Suddenly a hard pounding on the door shook him out of his thoughts, and he could then hear angry voices. ~No.~ His thoughts echoed loudly. ~They've come for me.~ He stood up, still wrapped in his homemade blanket from childhood. He heard his father open the door.  
  
"What do you want.."  
  
"You know what we want, Wagner." Came an angry voice from outside. A thrilling hum of other angry voices floated to his ears as well. "Bring your demon son out here so we can put an end to his sinful acts!"  
  
"My son has nothing to do with these murders, Frank.He has been upstairs asleep in his bed all night. We have checked in on him. He is there, and he has not left this house in over two weeks now because of your accusations!" His voice was rising in anger. "Now take yourselves off my property, and your pitchforks and torches with you!"  
  
Kurt could hear a growling response of something. He wondered if they really did have pitchforks and torches, or if it was a metaphorical meaning, his father had a tendency to use those..  
  
"One of these days, you will not be there to hide him." The man hissed. "We will put an end to it." Footsteps sounded, and Kurt was relieved to hear the door shut and bolt.  
  
"Stupid fools..why must they persecute him.." His father said, sounding bitter and very tired. "I am worried that what he says is right..one day we will not be able to protect him.."  
  
Kurt bit his lip. He couldn't stay here and endanger them any longer...he knew that he would be safe with the gypsies..and the townsfolk were afraid of them, and never ventured near. He softly padded back to his room, and dressed in some warm clothes, and put his big bulky robe on, then slipped out the window into the darkness..  
  
He arrived on the outskirts, seeing their friendly fires, dancing, and music well before he saw any people. He leapt down from the trees, nearly startling the sentry to death. "Wah. ah.. Kurt it's only you.. Stop sneaking up on us like that, or you're libel to be killed one of these days!" The gypsies man grinned at him, his dark face lined with amusement at the youth's ability to constantly sneak up on them.  
  
Kurt tried to return the smile, but felt empty inside due to the current situation. "I'm sorry Ulrich..I won't do it again." They both knew that he would do it again, and have the same situation occur at that.  
  
Kurt walked through the camp, and nearly jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder. "Hey, whatcha doing here so late bro?"  
  
Kurt turned, seeing the grinning smile of his friend. "Stefan. stop scaring me.." He breathed out. "I. " He started to say, and bit his lip.  
  
Stefan looked concerned, and pulled him down on the log by the fire outside the wagons. "What is it?"  
  
Kurt sighed and folded his hands in front of him. "The villagers came to my home tonight. they wanted to take me and kill me. they're blaming me for all the murders going on...I can't put my family in danger much longer." He looked up pleadingly at Stefan, the boy's eyes reflecting the fire brightly in his dark eyes. "I had to run away from them...I love them too much to put them in danger."  
  
Stefan nodded with sympathy and put a strong arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. "I understand..you're safe here, but you knew that." He flashed a smile. "How about we go cheer up by running down by the falls and throwing insults down at the village?"  
  
Kurt flashed a grin. It was one of their favorite things to do, when upset. They'd go down and stand on top of the waterfall ridge, with the roaring water crashing down below them, and scream out their frustrations and pent up anger at being constantly treated different for what they were born as..a gypsies and a mutant... "Yes..I think that would help a lot right now."  
  
"Right. Lemme grab a cloak and we'll go." He got up and walked into one of the wagons.  
  
Kurt stayed seated, glancing around the merry atmosphere. This was his second family. they didn't care what you looked like..in fact, it sometimes even made them accept him more, being different. He glanced over, seeing the fluttering flags of the tent. He smiled a bit watching them flutter in the darkness. The gypsies always set the circus up wherever they roamed..and he was ecstatic when he'd been asked to perform as the 'flying wonder Nightcrawler' during some of their performances. He had been good..no other person matched his agility and feat in performing in front of a clapping, excited crowd. When they moved on, which they did once and a while, he missed the thrill of the circus.  
  
Stefan came back with a rush, brown cloak fluttering after him in the approaching stormy wind. "Ready, let's go." He slapped a hand on Kurt's shoulder, and the two made their way out of the merry camp, into the growing darkness.  
  
They reached the overhang within a short time, and stood there, cloak and robe fluttering loudly in the wind as it tore the hair from their faces and whipped it around.  
  
Kurt closed his eyes and breathed in a deep breath of the crisp air, and smiled, feeling the wind ripple his fur. it was something like a massage. He didn't hear Stefan draw the knife until it was buried in his side. He gave a cry of pain as the blade struck him just under the ribs. He glanced back in startled fear at Stefan, and saw the wild look of a madman reflected there. "W..what...?" He managed to choke out as Stefan ripped the knife out, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder with the other hand..  
  
Stefan's laugh sent chills down his back to coincide with the flaming pain. "Why? Can't you understand it? You of all people..." His eyes laughed merrily while he spoke. "All those murders...they ARE your fault you know."  
  
Kurt choked back a cry, not believing what he was hearing. this was the boy who he had considered to be his brother... "No.. I didn't."  
  
"Of course YOU didn't kill them..that was me." He grinned darkly, still holding Kurt motionless at the edge of the falls. "I killed them...to get to you."  
  
Kurt's eyes widened in shock at what he was hearing.  
  
"I knew that you would be blamed if I made it appear demonic...and being such the good Samaritan you are, I knew that eventually, if I killed enough people, you would run from your family, not wanting them in danger from hiding you. and where else would you go?" He laughed. "So predictable..I knew you would come here..That's when I would finally put you out of the way."  
  
Kurt swallowed hard, his knees feeling weak, not only from the wound, but from what he was hearing. "Why...I thought we..were friends..brothers.."  
  
"How could I EVER be friends. or brothers. with a demon?" He spoke so coldly, that Kurt could feel the ice locking into his heart as it thudded madly in his chest. Betrayal crossed over his face as he stared up at the twisted face of Stefan..the one he had once called his friend..  
  
Kurt closed his eyes. What better than a fitting death for him to end all this suffering..why? Because he had been born a freak. a demon, like Stefan said.  
  
Stefan laughed at his expression. "Yes, I see you understand it now. Ever since we first met, I knew. You are the incarnation of all that is evil in this world..You didn't know it yet, that's all... I must get rid of you before you can truly become what you are."  
  
Time seemed to slow... Kurt watched as a flash of lightening illuminated the sky in a brilliant purple, and in that instant he saw the knife poised above him, ready to strike. Suddenly, all the kindness his parents had shown him, the care of Margali and Jimaine, his second mother and sister...and Stefan..his brother.. Were they all lies? No, they couldn't be.they loved him for who he was, not for what he looked like..he was no demon inside, even if he may look it outside.  
  
Kurt's wrist shot up, and gripped onto Stefan's hand, stopping the knife from plunging down. Stefan's surprise was evident as he glanced at him, pausing. Feeling a sensation rise up from inside, a strange sensation..a tingle and a nudge telling him to put two and two together.. He watched in slow motion it seemed, as Stefan stepped back for a second blow, gathering strength, and then leaning forward to deliver it...  
  
However, as the knife plunged down, it passed through a plume of sulfurous smoke instead of solid matter, throwing off the balance of the strike, so that Stefan stumbled, and found his foot meeting empty air below.  
  
Kurt wasn't quite sure what had happened, but one moment he had been in front of Stefan, the next he stood behind him, watching as his friend began to fall down the cliffside. He sprung into action, reaching forward and grabbing onto the back of Stefan's cloak as he plunged down. .With a jerk, Stefan's fall stopped, and he looked up at Kurt with a startled expression. Kurt winced as he tried with all his strength to pull him back up from the precarious position, dangling hundreds of feet above sharp rocks below the falls. "Hang on!" He cried, as he struggled to pull him back up.  
  
A hand gripped onto his, and he glanced down as Stefan peered up at him intently, gripping his right wrist. "Why are you trying to save me, demon." He whispered, only loud enough to hear over the dim roar of the water and wind. "I just tried to kill you."  
  
Kurt smiled sadly, tears running down his face, mixed with the rain that just began to fall. "I know...but I can't let you die..."  
  
A strange look of confusion passed over Stefan's face as they hung there, tense and each struggling in their own way. Then suddenly a sad smile passed over his face. "Oh.." He closed his eyes, and smiled. "God forgive me..." He then simply let go. Kurt had been holding the robe rather loosely once Stefan had gripped his hand..and was unprepared.  
  
Kurt gave a startled cry, and reacted ..by the time he realized what had just happened, it was too late, and Stefan's cloak had slipped beyond his reach, and all he could do was watch as his body hit the rocks below, soundlessly.  
  
He knelt there, and an anguished cry echoed from the cliff side walls..but it wasn't his own. He turned, and saw Jimaine standing there, blonde hair drenched in the pouring rain, face locked in an expression of shock. She had seen most of the conflict, and the result...  
  
Kurt stood up slowly, shaking from the wound he had received, and the realization that he had just killed his closest friend...his brother..He stood there, unable to move, even as the townsfolk, who had shown up at the gypsies camp in search of him after finally breaking into his home, began pouring out of the woods, and saw him there, blood on his hand and clothing..only one conclusion was to be made.  
  
*** Everyone watching this scene was spellbound by it, unable to say anything the whole time. It was practically unimaginable that such a thing had happened to the joking, lighthearted elf... a few eyes strayed to him, still sitting on the ground, with an expression of anguish. He didn't seem to be seeing anything but the visions pulled from his head.  
  
The visions kept coming, since Xavier himself was so wrapped up, he wanted to see the results of the incidents, and what had caused Margali to blame Kurt so.  
  
They all watched, horror struck, as the townsfolk dragged Kurt down the hill to the village, even as he cried out and struggled. He was struck across the head, and slumped dazed as a result, and dragged listlessly. They watched in shock as he was taken to the center of town, tied to a pole that had been erected there, and firewood piled around beneath him...Kurt was still dazed, his head lolling to the side and eyes trying to focus. The townsfolk were screaming names, crying out foul things, throwing rocks and rotten vegetables at him..nothing seemed to shake him out of his daze. The X-men were gripping the edges of their seats with anxiety as the wood was lit, and still Kurt didn't stir. It didn't matter that it was obvious he would escape, since he was here present with them, they were all pulled into the moment.  
  
The pyre was lit, and flames began to lick at the hem of his robes, and this was enough to shake him awake. He cried out, begged, screamed, and wept, but the villagers just seemed to grow angrier and cheer on the flames more.. From the corner of the vision, they could see his mother and father, struggling to get through, screaming in hysterics at seeing their son in mortal danger. but they were held back, prevented from reaching him by strong men with shotguns. The flames had lit his robe already, and were licking at his feet, which he desperately was curling up to avoid the flames. The smoke was becoming so thick, that they lost sight of him...  
  
The X-men watched as a puff of thick black smoke erupted as some of the logs re-arranged, sending sparks up into the air, and completely hiding him from view as the flames leapt higher, and higher...then the vision suddenly just winked out.  
  
They all blinked, not sure why it had just vanished, and all looked to Xavier and Kurt. Xavier lifted his head and let out a breath, sweat rolling down his forehead. "He lost consciousness at that point.." He murmured. "After teleporting out."  
  
Margali seemed to be in the most shock, and stood there with a strange look of pain on her face. she glanced down at Kurt, who was sitting with shoulders slumped, and eyes staring with a hopeless vacant expression at nothing in particular. Suddenly, she gave a strangled cry, and knelt down, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly to her as she cried. "My dear boy..I'm so sorry...I made a horrible mistake..." She choked and just held him, rocking back and forth, tears flowing from her eyes freely, dripping onto the back of his head.  
  
Kurt finally showed some reaction, after re-living his painful past, by lifting his hand and placing it on her shoulder gently. His eyes still seemed distant, but they lost the vacant expression, and focused more on Jimaine, standing behind her mother, tears in her eyes as well. His voice sounded incredibly sad when he spoke. "I'm sorry..I didn't want to kill him...I wanted to save him.."  
  
Margali let him go, and took his shoulders in her hands, holding him firmly in front of her. "No. You did not kill him, Kurt." She said, a sad smile on her face, and an expression of understanding. "I know that now..you did try to save him..but Fate punished him for his Sins..." she put a hand on Kurt's head and kissed his forehead gently. "You hold no blame in this...I withdraw my vows...and beg your forgiveness."  
  
Kurt looked faintly confused, and Xavier spoke up quietly. "He really does believe that he is responsible, Margali.." He smiled gently. "It may take him time to realize that he has not, considering he has been blaming himself for four years..."  
  
Margali nodded once, and stood up, pulling Kurt up with her, cradling him a bit in her arms as if he might fall without her. "And for so long I have held hatred for him, believing that he was the one who murdered all those people, and finally my son." She glanced back at Jimaine, who had a sad smile on her face. "But my daughter believed otherwise..she tried to convince me, and finally I allowed her to set us up here, and get close to Kurt in order to find out the truth." She bowed her head. "I have done him a tremendous wrong. .and in my power as a sorceress, I shall attempt to right it."  
  
The X-men exchanged glances at the 'sorceress' comment. Having never encountered anyone quite like Margali, they weren't' sure what to think. Finally, Beast cleared his throat. "ahem.. Perhaps we should head back now that this is cleared up..get some time to think it over?"  
  
Xavier nodded in agreement. "Indeed...I think that's best..." 


	14. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copy written/ trademarked/ whatevered by Marvel ect.  
  
Author's note: Man I'm cranking them out. feedback time, should I end the fic or, should I continue on with more plots? And now I shall address comments from feedback ^_^  
  
Emily: Thanks! I appreciate your analysis of the universes, since I haven't read many of the comics myself, only some summaries here and there, I am worried about playing the characters a bit wrong. I pretty much took what I read from profiles and other fics to make them, and I'm glad they're holding true to your liking. ^_^ And about the punctuation, *bangs head* Yeah my spell check has issues, sometimes it catches the two dots sometimes it doesn't, but I usually miss em when proofing, since I'm more looking for structure and spelling ^_^ but thanks for pointing it out.  
  
Soul Eater: Glad to see you're still following ^.~ And you seem surprised about the plot? It's part of his past from the comics, albeit with artistic creativity and evo based events. I'd love to write a more in-depth scene based on the one photo from the Evo comics #4..*sighs* poor Kurt looks SO anguished in that rendition. plus the drawings inside of him with kitty *drooooool* good lord..why can't they draw his fuzzy self that well.. *cough* but enough of my rambling!  
  
Moonlight Reflections Chapter Fourteen Aftermath By: NightElfCrawler  
  
A day and a night had passes since the X-jet had touched back down at the mansion, and shortly after doing so, the Seftons had left to go home, finding it best to put some distance for now until things calmed down a bit. Everyone pretty much wanted to leave Kurt to himself, since he seemed pretty worn out and upset from the whole situation.  
  
Rogue was walking by his door one morning before breakfast, and paused hearing something. They had been leaving meals at his door, since he didn't seem to want to come out. Xavier had told them with some re-assurance that Kurt was fine, simply trying to adjust to everything, and he would come around in time, but they couldn't help but worry. Even Amara had been concerned for the 'fuzzy peasant', which was the closest she'd ever come to being nice to him. But as Rogue paused in front of Kurt's door, she heard music. She blinked, and pressed her ear to the door to listen closer...it was one of Kurt's favorite bands, she realized, and she could hear singing, bad singing, along with it. Hiding a smile, she knocked once, then opened the door and peered in. She stared with an open mouth at the sight.  
  
Kurt was hanging upside down from the light fixture on the ceiling, swinging back and forth, headphones on his head blasting the music loud, and he was singing, off key, to the words. But that wasn't all..He was dressed in a bright orange t-shirt, and bike shorts with some shades over his eyes. Rogue had never seen him wear such. clashing colors before. "Um.. Kurt?" She asked, leaning on the doorframe as she watched his odd antics. "Helloooo Kurt?" she snorted as he didn't hear her. She glanced around, and saw a partially eaten donut in the trash, picked it up, and threw it at him.  
  
That certainly got his attention. He stopped swinging, and must have opened his eyes, hard to tell behind the glasses, because he promptly let go of his grip in surprise, and landed head first on the bed below with an 'oomf'. The CD player he'd been holding turned off as he landed, and he was left staring at her hanging half off the bed upside down, with shades falling off his nose. "Um.. Rogue.. Hi!" He finally managed.  
  
Rogue couldn't help herself, and let out a giggle, very uncharacteristically. "What in the world are you doin' Kurt?"  
  
He rolled over on his stomach so that at least he was upright, but remained on the bed. "Cheering up." He replied with a shrug.  
  
"Wearin, that? Dear god I hope you don't decide ta make that you're usual attire.." She was still smiling.  
  
To her relief, he returned the grin. "Nah, I wouldn't be caught dead outside like this." his face turned a darker shade of blue. "Um.no one really knows about this. so could you.."  
  
"Sure thing." She folded her arms with a grin. "Not a word."  
  
He grinned with relief. "Thanks." He slid off the bed, taking the headphones and shades off. "So.is everyone worried?" He asked, sounding a bit more quiet, asking that.  
  
"Yeah a bit.. Ah mean, ya haven't' been outside of yer room for a while..'n it's not like you."  
  
He looked down. "Ja, I know. I don't mean to worry anyone.I just. have things to sort out." He explained, looking a bit embarrassed.  
  
Rogue stepped into his room a bit more, closing the door behind her. "Yeah, Ah guess it's a lot to soak in, ain't it." she walked over to his balcony, as the doors were open, and stepped out onto it, leaning on the railing. She was glad when she felt him lean on it next to her. "Ah mean, yer only girlfriend ends up being someone entirely different." She glanced at him. "What're you gonna do about it?"  
  
He stared out at the gardens below with a look of longing. "I wish I'd never found out.. I loved Amanda so much." His voice shook a bit. "I mean. she cared about ME..who I was..not what I looked like." He fidgeted with his hands a bit, but Rogue didn't interrupt him. "But Amanda wasn't real..she didn't ever exist, it was always Jimaine.." He sighed a bit. "And while we were friends long ago.. I don't think I could continue a relationship knowing that Amanda is Jimaine. and I couldn't have a relationship with Jimaine.. There's. too much there to constantly remind me.." He trailed off, looking sadder than she'd ever seen him.  
  
Having caught a very personal glimpse into his life, she understood more than most. Her power forced her to understand people when seeing something that was important to them. She put a gloved hand over his on the railing. "Ah understand." She said quietly. "Ya can't live a lie.." She watched the blue fuzzy one with a sad look. "But that also means you don't have a girl to spend time with anymore.."  
  
He nodded slowly. "Ja..but if Jimaine sticks around. maybe we can become friends again.. I'm not sure though..I don't know if I want to.." He glanced over at her, and she was startled seeing a new wisdom in his eyes. "I've accepted what happened. I thought I had before. but then I realized that acceptation was based on a false conclusion..but now I know the truth..my soul is much lighter knowing that."  
  
Rogue was stunned by this personal intrusion into his thoughts. "Ah see..." She finally managed, wondering if he'd ever be completely the same. no, probably not. something in him had changed. she only hoped it wasn't for the worst. "Well, ya'll find someone else.. I mean there has to be another person who is like Amanda out there somewhere, right?"  
  
Kurt looked thoughtful. "Maybe.but what if I never find her. what if I'm destined to become . I don't' know, a priest or something.."  
  
Rogue choked. "Don't joke around now, that's not gonna happen." She snickered a bit more. "A priest? You? Nah, ya like to chase and flirt with girls too much, you'll find someone, trust me.. there's millions of people out there in that world." She spread a hand to indicate. "And out there somewhere, is someone who's just right for ya.. You just have to find her.that's all."  
  
Kurt smiled then, the first genuine smile of happiness she'd seen him give since they'd return. "You know. I think you're right." He glanced at her and then quite suddenly gave her a tight hug. She stiffened out of an automatic response, but relaxed when she realized he was being careful. "Thank you. Rogue." He pulled back, and she saw gratitude in his eyes.  
  
Rogue suddenly felt a twinge inside. She knew so much about him now, and she felt guilty at him not knowing much about her in return. so she offered something she hadn't offered to anyone yet. "Marie..ya can call me Marie.." She held a finger up in front of his face. "But if ya tell anyone else, Ah'll get really mad at ya."  
  
He grinned wider at that and then *bamf*, he was gone, and she waved a hand in front of her nose with slight disgust at the smell, before *bamf*, he was back with a rose in his hand, held out to her. "My lips are sealed." He said, eyes twinkling merrily behind the flower.  
  
She grinned, and took it graciously. "Wha thank you kindly, sir." She mimicked a proper southern belle. "Ah do declare you have earned the privilege of escorting me to breakfast."  
  
"It would be my honor, Madam." He replied, putting on a badly imitated version of Rhett Butler. "Nothing would give me more pleasure, than to escort a beautiful lady to her meal."  
  
Together, noses in the air, they both stepped out of his room, and down to breakfast..except seconds later, there was a scramble, a bamf, a tossing of clothing, then one more bamf, when Kurt remembered what he was wearing.  
  
Once he had returned to the hallway with Rogue, they continued down the stairs slowly. She suddenly paused. "Kurt. Ah have ta ask ya something before we go on.." He paused, and glanced at her as she turned to him. "All of this..Ah mean, tha four of us know something really personal ta ya..What do you feel about that.. ah mean, it's kinda really personal.."  
  
He looked thoughtful, then finally spoke in a calm thoughtful voice that Rouge had rarely heard coming from the jokester himself. "Well. I can't say that I am happy about everyone knowing...you're right..it is personal. I don't want pity from anyone because I've been through hard times.pity does no one any good." Rogue nodded in agreement, she thought the same thing. "But I suppose it is good that it helped me get past it." He looked up at her, and smiled, only with a hint of sadness. "We all go through tough times, especially mutants. But if we learn from it, and become better people from it instead of letting it ruin us, then we win."  
  
Rogue smiled and patted his shoulder. "Right on...ya know, ya give good advice, fuzzy."  
  
He smirked and waggled a finger in front of her face. "Careful, Marie.." *bamf* "..or you might make a habit of running to my arms!"  
  
She snorted once and gave him a playful shove backwards onto the stairs. "Right, lahk that'd happen...Sorry, but while yer mah friend Kurt, ah don't think yer quite my type."  
  
He grinned, taking no offense at that. "You have your eyes set on a certain..tall handsome guy in shades."  
  
Rogue flushed a bit. "Wha, Scott? Ah am SO over him!" She protested. "And besides.he and Jean are inseparable...ah figured that out finally."  
  
Kurt folded his arms. "Well then, we single people will have to go hunting for dates some time!"  
  
Rogue snorted. "Yeah, you know Ah'd love ta see ya get into a goth club sometime Kurt. yer pale enough, you'd wear black well."  
  
Kurt scratched his nose a bit. "I don't know about that. I don't think I'm the 'walking dead' type.."  
  
Rogue laughed. "I'd love ta get ya dressed up just once.."  
  
Kurt got an evil glint in his eyes. "All right, I'll do it if you agree to take off that make-up and get into normal jeans and a shirt."  
  
She looked a bit shocked. "Wha? Like Kitty's clothes?" He grinned. "Rogue sighed putting a hand to her head. "Man. all right, deal. We take pictures too, then we don't gotta ever do it again."  
  
Kurt chuckled. "Blackmail photos?"  
  
Rogue smirked. "More like..a one time memory."  
  
He snickered. "Deal. Now hurry up, I'm hungry!"  
  
Rogue laughed again. "When are ya not?" But she started walking again, next to him, and they entered the dining room, where Amara and the Professor were already waiting for them.  
  
Xavier smiled in relief seeing Kurt enter the room. "Ah, welcome back. Feeling better I take it?"  
  
Kurt gave him thumbs up and took a seat. "Ja, thanks Professor.I'm 100% back to normal!"  
  
"Hmph..pity.. we were enjoying the silence in your absence." Amara said with a rather aloof expression, reaching for a sweet bun.  
  
Both Xavier and Rogue exchanged looks, but Kurt surprised them both. He smiled, and replied without any malice in his voice. "Why then, I'm sure you're rearing and ready to resume being the recipient of my plans."  
  
Amara gave a quick startled look of fear at the possible plotting devious ways of the Elf. "I would advise you to keep your filthy hands off me."  
  
"Certainly!" He chirped back perkily. "I won't lay a hand on you."  
  
Rogue had to hide a smile..oh dear, she was beginning to think like him now. he wouldn't touch her with a hand. but the princess might find some ice cubes in her bed, or have her perfumes filled with bubble solution..Kurt always found a way around things.  
  
They ate breakfast in that manner, cheerful banters from Kurt, and steamed responses from Amara..It left the three others at the table, Xavier, Hank, and Rogue smiling and trying to keep from laughing.  
  
It seemed things were back to normal.. For now anyway.. Once the rest of the students returned, it would be a different kind of normal, one filled with explosions, slippery surfaces, and more. Chaos was certainly the center of activity at the mansion..  
  
Author's note: Once more, I need feed back if this is to be the final chapter, or if I should continue the story. Thanks ^_^ 


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